The Xourne Identity
by Starway Man
Summary: Xander encounters Ethan Rayne during ‘Band Candy’, and afterwards, the events of the 199899 senior year end up happening somewhat differently. [COMPLETE]
1. Chocolate And Change

**Date written: **Sun15 Jan 2006

**Author:** Starway Man

**E-mail:** theop at kew dot hotkey dot net dot au

**Disclaimer:** The Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters are copyright Joss Whedon, UPN, WB, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, Sandollar and probably a whole lot of other people as well. All references to The Bourne Identity belong to Robert Ludlum. Parts of the fanfic are taken from transcripts of the relevant BtVS episodes, and so those segments belong to the writers in question. Oh, yeah, and I won't be making any illegal profit from this story; I'm just hoping for a little feedback here.

**Category: **Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Crossover

**Main characters:** Xander, Ensemble

**Continuity:** This story takes place initially during the BtVS season 3 episode 'Band Candy'.

**Rating:** Overall R, with mostly PG-13 parts.

**Symbols: **" " denotes speech, ( italics ) specifies thoughts, and # # indicates phone voice.

**Acknowledgments:** Thanks to Buffyworld for the transcripts of the relevant episodes, and my beta readers Greywizard, Francis Eugene, and Nodakskip.

**Warnings:** This story contains descriptions of killing and violence, as well as some bad language.

**Author Notes:** This fanfic is NOT a crossover with the 2002 movie starring Matt Damon, but rather the original novel written way back in 1980 (and to a minor extent, the 1988 film as well). I highly recommend reading the book, to anyone interested in doing so.

**Summary: **Xander encounters Ethan Rayne during 'Band Candy', and afterwards, the events of the 1998-99 senior year end up happening somewhat differently.

**Title: **The Xourne Identity

* * *

"So, what's on tap for tonight that's so important? Uprising, prophesised ritual, pre-ordained death-fest?"

(Buffy Summers, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)

"Cain is for Charlie and Delta is for Cain."

(Alexander Conklin, THE BOURNE IDENTITY)

"Anger, fear, aggression...the dark side of the Force, are they."

(Yoda, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)

**

* * *

**

Part I: Chocolate And Change

**17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale. Mid-November, 1998**

Xander Harris sat alone in the basement of his parents' home. To be more accurate he was sitting on the floor, staring at nothing in particular, and slowly bouncing a ball back and forth against the wall.

He had taken his SATs recently, and under other circumstances the young man would have been greatly concerned that he had not done well on the exams – and that his future might suffer, because of that.

But not here, and not now. Right at this moment, Xander's mind was full of memories that were not his own. Places he had never been, people he had never met, things he had never done...

All of a sudden, the boy heard a commotion upstairs; his ears hearing the sounds of doors opening and loud female voices demanding to know where he was.

But the male teenager paid them no heed. He just sat there in the basement, and remembered...

**

* * *

**

The Milkbar Factory, Sunnydale. Three days earlier

The man known as Ethan Rayne was walking alongside the black Master vampire known as Mr. Trick. The chaos mage had been to the Hellmouth before and so he was back in town purely for business reasons, as his history with this town's inhabitants wasn't exactly one he relished remembering.

Unfortunately, these business reasons involved being a subcontractor for drugging the adult humans of Sunnydale – in order to enable the Mayor to procure a tribute to the demon called Lurconis...

"Demand's high," Trick said of the cursed candy that had been circulating around town, thanks to the efforts of the high school students ordered to sell it.

Ethan said proudly, "I thought it might be."

Trick smirked. "That's the reason I love this country. You make a good product, and the people will come to you. Of course, a lot of them are gonna die, but that's the other reason I love this country!"

Then they stopped walking as Trick stepped over to the human inspecting the boxes of candy before they got sealed. The undead guy snapped, "Hey! Don't sample the product."

The factory worker tried to protest, "But I didn't-"

Without a word Trick grabbed him by the overalls, pulled him into a headlock and jerked his head around, breaking the poor man's neck and throwing the corpse to the floor.

Ethan did nothing but look away in distaste. Which was in fact typical for him.

For his part, Trick just straightened his jacket and then checked the ring on his pinky finger. ( _Damn, but that felt good! Guess there's been too much executive action and not enough killing for this vampire, lately..._ )

The evil duo continued to walk as Ethan asked, "Uh, how did you know he was..."

"I didn't," the vampire said nonchalantly. "But now, I know no one else will." He checked his watch and added, "We're getting close. It's almost feeding time!"

The undead villain then walked off, leaving Ethan standing there staring after him, a look of surprise and concern on his face. After a moment, the Brit headed back the way they'd come.

It was odd how just one misspoken sentence could alter fate in such a way, as Rayne became convinced that he himself was going to be on Trick's menu later tonight. No loose ends, and all that.

So the warlock decided he was going to need some extra backup in place, some insurance to make sure he got out of Sunnydale intact. Thus, as soon as he could do so safely, Ethan snuck out of the factory to obtain what he needed.

And as luck, or fate, or destiny would have it, who should he run into – except the one and only high school senior, known as Xander Harris?

**

* * *

**

Ethan's private office. A short while later

Having knocked the Slayerette unconscious and brought him to the factory, Ethan Rayne checked out his soon-to-be vassal.

"So nice to see you again, dear boy," the mage said musingly in his distinct English accent. "Because I remember you from last year, you know. One of the Slayer's groupies, aren't you? Dressed up as a soldier then, as I recall. Wonder how well that worked out for you? Well, never mind, guess it doesn't matter now..."

The Brit inspected Xander's prone form carefully, ostensibly talking to the teenager but actually more to himself. "I must admit – I probably would've preferred someone else, given more time to look, but then this isn't a perfect world – is it? And we all need to make do on occasion. So then, what sort of persona should I create within you to help me tonight, hmmm? Choices, choices, choices..."

Ethan went on, "Maybe a famous demon killer like Enkidu, or King Gilgamesh? No, no, I need someone more contemporary; no point in having someone around who'll mistake a car for a demon, or anything like that! Maybe a vampire killer like a descendant of Van Helsing, or one of that French mob? No...I need someone with the abilities, but without any purpose of his own..."

Suddenly, Ethan got an idea. "Of course! Why didn't I think of it before? That particular amnesiac will be perfect..."

And so, without any further ado, Ethan began the preparations for the chaos spell. He worked as quickly as possible, getting out a two-headed statue of Janus from a nearby locker – then drawing a bullet wound scar on Xander's head, as well as placing a toy gun in his hand.

Then checking the time, the chaos worshipper began his invocation in Latin, weaving his spell around the unconscious youth. At the penultimate moment, a cold wind seemed to blow through the room, slamming the door shut – and Ethan said with a cold smile, "Showtime..."

Suddenly, the scar became real, and the toy morphed into a real .38 calibre automatic pistol held in Jason Bourne's unconscious hand.

( _Success!_ ) the mage thought to himself triumphantly.

Rayne waited impatiently for the man to wake up, then went to answer a ringing telephone – just as Buffy Summers, her mother Joyce, her Watcher Rupert Giles and Principal Snyder arrived at the factory...

**

* * *

**

The Milkbar Factory. A while later

Buffy ended her phone call to her friend Willow, having learned from Ethan that the tribute to Lurconis involved the sacrifice of newborn babies. "Come on..." she took her mother's hand, intent on getting out of there to stop it from happening.

But Joyce had a question first. "Well, what about that man?"

Buffy turned to see Giles holding a crowbar over Ethan's head, the evil magician currently lying on the floor after trying to attack her. "Uh, see if you guys can find something to tie him up with."

The drugged Mrs. Summers, who like Giles was acting as if she was a teenager again, muttered, "Um..." She then reached behind her back and pulled out a set of handcuffs, dangling them from her thumb – and giving her daughter a sheepish yet mischievous look.

The blonde Slayer sighed, "NEVER tell me..." She then grabbed the cuffs and headed over to Ethan, quickly securing him to a chair.

"Hang on – you can't leave me like this!" Ethan shouted, as the Chosen One dragged the three adults out of there. "Come back here!"

Elsewhere, at that precise moment, the man who had become Jason Charles Bourne woke up.

His head was hurting, just like when he'd woken up on Dr. Washburn's hospital bed on the Mediterranean island Île de Port Noir months ago. Bourne then instinctively grasped the weapon in his hand, and wondered where the hell he was...

The man with only fragments of memory then got up smoothly, like a jungle cat, and took stock of his surroundings. Before him, there was a two-headed statue with glowing green eyes.

( _Janus. Roman mythical god,_ ) the amnesiac thought to himself, before suddenly frowning. ( _How did I know that? No, never mind. Important thing is, where am I?_ )

Dismissing the odd statue, the possessed youth then left Ethan's office and followed the shouting noises to a man – obviously British – chained to a chair.

"About time you showed up!" Ethan grunted in annoyance, having wondered where the hell his backup plan was.

Jason just pointed the gun at his head. "Who are you? Where am I?"

Ethan instantly decided to tone it down a bit. "I'm a friend, Mr. Bourne – if I may call you that? Look, if you'd just care to release me, I'll-"

"I don't know you. Identify yourself," Bourne interrupted in a monotone.

"The name's Ethan Rayne. Oh, and as for your question regarding where we are? It's a quaint little township called Sunnydale, here on the West Coast – about two hours drive north of Los Angeles-"

Not really caring about how he'd gotten here, the secret agent simply demanded, "Where's Marie?" Referring to the fictional Canadian woman who – in his mind – had recently become his lover in Europe.

"You mean Ms. St. Jacques? I have no idea," Rayne lied.

"Then you're of no use to me." Bourne turned around and started to leave.

Ethan started to panic, and so decided to play a wild card. ( _Nothing left to lose..._ ) "Cain is for Carlos, and Delta is for Cain!"

The code phrase almost made him snap, as Jason instantly whirled around and aimed the gun at Ethan's throat. "You have ten seconds to clarify that, or you're a dead man!"

Ethan winced at the threat, and knew he had to talk fast and talk for his life. ( _Got to tell him parts of the truth, but not all of it. No invention, simply omission..._ ) "I know about Delta, and the Medusa organization. I also know about Cain, and the three years you've spent working for the...Treadstone-71 corporation..."

Bourne didn't move. "And Ilich Ramirez Sanchez? Or should I say, Carlos?"

"Not my concern," Ethan ad-libbed about the fictional character and the real-life terrorist using that name. "I'm a relative newcomer to all this, I'm afraid. Oh, and I heard about what happened to the Monk, the Yachtsman and his wife – and your brother, Gordon. My sincerest condolences for their deaths, by the way."

Bourne didn't believe him for a second, but still said, "Lift your arms up as high as you can."

Ethan complied as the other man went behind the chair and shot at the handcuffs, releasing the chaos mage. "Thank you, old man. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm vacating the premises – I assume you'll want to come along? As far as I know there's nothing here for you, anyway..."

Jason Bourne said nothing, he just kept his weapon ready and watched as Ethan trotted to the office and started packing a few things. Including the two-headed statue... "Where's the nearest airport?"

"About half an hour's drive, more or less," Ethan replied – noting the gun still being trained on his head. ( _Looks like I'll have to delay my plans a bit..._ ) "Come on, my car's outside."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale Airport, Sunnydale. Later that night

While elsewhere Buffy, Joyce and Giles were in the sewers, saving the babies and torching the body of Lurconis, Bourne and Ethan were purchasing tickets for a flight to New York City, by way of LAX.

Jason had ditched the gun before entering the airport and its metal detectors, confident that his unarmed combat skills would be enough to keep his untrustworthy companion in line – till they went their separate ways. ( _No point taking any chances. I've been hunted enough lately..._ )

But Bourne had subsequently been stunned to learn that the year was now 1998, and not 1978 as he'd assumed. And unfortunately, the American intelligence agent-slash-undercover assassin didn't have a chance to discuss anything with Ethan in the midst of all the people lining up to get their boarding passes, which led to quite the build-up of annoyance and frustration on his part.

"What's going on here?" Bourne eventually snarled at the British man, as soon as they were alone in the men's toilets. "Is this some kind of trick? Because if not, I'd really like to know – how the hell did over twenty years pass in the blink of an eye?"

Ethan suddenly smirked. "Hate to tell you this, friend – but the truth is, you don't really exist..." And then, without any warning, he smashed the Janus statue – by throwing the flimsy box in his hands hard down onto the floor

Xander Harris blinked, suddenly himself again as he stared at the chaos mage before him. He was able to remember everything, "What the...oh man, not again..."

Once more without any warning, the Englishman hit the male teenager with a right hook to the jaw, while he was still disoriented. Xander was easily knocked out cold by the force of the blow; and after positioning the young man in one of the stalls, Ethan quickly grabbed the plane ticket out of Xander's jacket with another smirk.

"Au revoir, dear boy. Thanks for all the help. And I DO hope we meet up again, one day!"

Ethan then left the men's room, got a refund for Xander's ticket, and quickly boarded a flight eventually headed for New York.

**

* * *

**

17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale. Mid-November, 1998

As the female voices grew louder, Xander pulled himself out of his memories of the recent past. And soon enough, Buffy, his best friend Willow Rosenberg and his girlfriend Cordelia Chase came down the stairs into the basement.

"There you are! Where the hell have you been since last Friday, you dweeb?" Cordelia demanded in her own wonderfully caring way.

But then the brunette girl got the shock of her life as Xander got up, looked her right in the eye and said softly, "I want to break up."

"What? Why?" Cordy demanded in horror, as she recalled her own words from Valentine's Day. Buffy and Willow were also stunned; the redhead was quite concerned, thinking Harris was finally going to come clean about their illicit smoochies ever since October.

But Xander just started to explain what had happened to him last Friday, while everyone else had been busy with other stuff. Finally he finished up, "And when I woke up in the toilet, Ethan's plane was long gone."

"Oh my God! If I ever see that guy again, I'm gonna kill him!" Buffy ranted. "Geez, Xander, I was there at that factory that night – I'm so sorry, I didn't know-"

"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong, Buff," Xander said a bit too calmly.

"But that still doesn't explain why you wanna break up with me!" Cordelia demanded hotly. "I don't get it..."

Xander looked at her and said, "What do you know about Jason Bourne, Cordy?"

"Never heard of him," she replied impatiently. "But hey, how bad can this guy be? I mean, you dealt with being that soldier guy a year ago..."

"I've never heard of him, either," Buffy put in her own two cents, just as Xander opened his mouth to say it was like the socialite was comparing apples to oranges.

"I have."

All eyes turned towards the computer whiz as Willow said nervously, "I, I've read the book, it's one of my dad's favorites. And I also saw that movie which was made 10 years ago, as well-"

Harris knew that actions spoke louder than words, and so he said, "Mind if I borrow your stake for a second, Buff? I'm thinking a little demonstration's in order."

The Slayer nodded and gave it to him. Xander then casually turned and threw it at a calendar on the wall, hitting it dead centre on today's date from all the way across the room.

The three girls' eyes went wide as Xander brought it over and said, "Jason Bourne's real name, for those of you who don't know, was David Webb. He was a career foreign service officer for the U.S. government, stationed in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. When one day, his Thai wife and two children were killed in a bombing raid along the Mekong river. He subsequently became someone called "Delta", in a black ops organization called 'Medusa'-"

"And he was a borderline psycho by then," Willow interrupted. "He, he should have been discharged from government service and put on anti-psychotic drugs! I mean, I know there was a war on and all, but all those people that he killed..."

Xander glanced at her, "You could make a case for all that, I guess. But anyway, after the war he was recruited by this guy named David Abbot, otherwise known as the Monk – he was the same man who had built Medusa, you see. Abbot and his three friends were the basis of Treadstone-71, the most controlled unit of American intelligence ever since the State Department's Consular Operations-"

"Who?" "What?" Cordelia and Buffy demanded together.

"Doesn't matter," said Xander with a sigh. "Point is, Webb agreed to become Jason Bourne, who was otherwise known as Cain. A mythical assassin, who was supposedly expanding his operations from Asia into Europe. Bourne lived undercover for three years in that role, non-stop. Just so he could draw a terrorist named Carlos out of hiding, and kill him."

"Except it didn't work out that way," Willow added, as she stared at her oldest friend in horrified fascination. ( _And now, Xander remembers all that as if he's lived it himself? Oh my God..._ )

"No. Because the man got shot in the head at sea, and lost his former identity completely; it's probably why Ethan chose him in the first place, I guess. Still, in the book – Bourne came within seconds of pulling the whole crazy thing off, even though in the end he failed to kill the bad guy. It was just too bad all the training he'd had for the mission was gone – except for his innate instincts and abilities-"

"Yeah, okay, boo-hoo for him and all that. But it still doesn't explain why you suddenly want to break up with me!" Cordelia said for the second time. "What, is it something I said? Something I did? I know we fight a lot, Xander, but I-"

Harris came up close to her and said, "Cordelia. Haven't you been listening? Jason Bourne, or David Webb, or whatever you wanna call him – he was a professional killer. He HAD to be in order to play the role he did. And I've picked up a lot of things from everything that guy went through, when both sides wanted him dead! Including his ability to kill at the drop of a hat. Do you realize NOW what kind of danger you're in, Tact Girl? I don't want to see you or anyone else get hurt because of me, if you say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time..."

"Oh, come on, Xander!" the blonde Slayer broke in. "Are you sure you're not exaggerating JUST a bit?"

Willow opened her mouth, but a single glance and shake of the head from her male pal caused her to shut up. ( _Yeah, he'll have to prove it to her, she'll never believe it otherwise..._ )

Harris said calmly, "Buffy, I want you to attack me so that I can give you some idea of what I'm capable of now. And I'm warning you, I won't hold back – so keep your guard up, okay?"

The Slayer shook her head. "This isn't necessary-"

"I think it is, Buffy," Willow said at once, in a dreading tone. "Please? As a favor to me?"

The mystically empowered female warrior sighed and put her bag down, as Xander did a few stretching exercises. "Okay..."

When Harris was ready, Ms. Summers let loose a punch at her friend's head – one that he could tell she was holding back on almost completely.

"Che-sah!" Xander's right foot surged upwards and forward like a battering ram, crashing into Buffy's unprotected stomach and driving her backwards a few paces.

The blonde girl let out a sharp cry of pain, clutching her abdomen before she finally regained her balance. "What the hell was that? I think you almost perforated my gall bladder!"

Xander shrugged. "Told you I wasn't gonna hold back."

Luckily, Cordelia interrupted whatever Buffy was gonna say in reply as the blonde came forward. "Xander-"

"Cor, please. Given what's happened...this is all for the best, I promise you. Just tell everyone at school tomorrow that you dumped me because I suddenly turned into a complete psycho – well, it's not all that far from the truth. Because like it or not, the Xander Harris that you knew before – he doesn't exist anymore. Who I am now...I need to figure out who that Xander Harris is before I can commit to anything else."

It was obvious Ms. Chase still wasn't convinced. "But-"

Again Harris interrupted, "Okay, you want a legitimate reason to break up with me? Here's one – I've been making out with Willow behind your back for over a month, ever since Homecoming..."

Willow went white at hearing that, as Buffy glanced at her in shock – but Cordelia just rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Will you stop it? God, if you're gonna be making stuff up like that, you should've at least said Buffy's name! That woulda been way more believable-"

"HEY!" Willow snapped, before her brain caught up with her mouth.

The buxom head cheerleader just barely glanced at her. "Sorry, but it's true!"

"Should I be insulted?" Buffy wondered, also convinced now that Xander's story was all just make-believe.

"Totally up to you," the Chase girl shrugged. Then she looked back at her now ex-boyfriend. "Xander-"

"No. It's over, Cordy. At least, until I get a firm enough grip on myself. And since I have utterly no clue when that'll be, I don't expect you to wait for me," Harris said firmly, yet also as gently as he could.

Two hot and salty tears ran down Cordelia's cheeks, as she eventually turned around and fled out of the basement. Buffy sent a hard stare at her best male bud before running after her.

But Willow was still rooted to the floor in shock. "Xander, you – you..."

"It's over, Willow," the young man said in that same firm tone of voice. "It's strange, but...whatever it was that was happening between you and me, I just – I don't feel that way anymore, I simply don't have any desire to kiss you any longer. And since Cordelia didn't believe me when I told her what we'd been up to...well, as far as I'm concerned, that's the end of it-"

"What?" Ms. Rosenberg interrupted. A strange combination of astonishment, disappointment and relief in her voice.

Harris just went on, "Look, whether or not you tell Oz...that's entirely up to you. Personally though, I'd just pretend that the whole thing never happened; because I honestly can't see how anything good can ever possibly come out of anyone learning about, y'know...us..."

Willow ran away in tears, exactly like Cordelia had done, and Xander just stared at her retreating form sadly.

To Be Continued in Part 2


	2. Lovers Run

See Part 1 For Disclaimer and other details

**

* * *

**

Part II: Lovers Run

**Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. Late November, 1998**

Buffy Summers walked along the school corridor, with a troubled step and a troubled heart. And the cause of her anxiety was, in fact, Xander Harris.

It had all started that day when the guy had told her, Willow and Cordelia that he had been possessed AGAIN – what was that, the third time now? – and he had broken up with his girlfriend. And when the blonde had caught up with the brunette outside Xander's house, to her amazement, Cordelia had broken down and cried in her arms...

It was at that point that Ms. Summers had realized that what the other girl had told her during Slayerfest '98 hadn't been an exaggeration; she really had fallen in love with her boyfriend, and her ex had just completely shattered her heart.

And yet, as far as Buffy was concerned – all that had PALED in comparison, to the night when Xander had discovered that her beloved Angel was back.

Unlike what would have happened in a world where Ethan Rayne's actions had never come about, Xander had confronted both Buffy and Angel at the mansion, when he had caught them kissing that night. And what was more, he had pulled out a stolen Browning HP35 9mm handgun – and aimed it at them before saying, "Well now, isn't this a nice picture for the family photo album?"

Refusing to listen to Buffy's attempted explanations, he had simply escorted both of them back to the library at gunpoint, after taking possession of the Glove of Myhnegon – which Angel had found at the Von Hauptman family crypt, earlier that evening.

And Buffy still cringed whenever she thought of the look on Giles' face that night, when confronted by the fact that not only was Angel back from Hell – the nightmarish pain of what Angelus had inflicted upon him never far from the Englishman's thoughts – but that she'd deliberately kept that a secret from him. And THAT had really put a crimp in the trust for a while.

But that wasn't the worst of it: that stuck-up shrew Gwendolyn Post, who had supposedly come to town to become Faith's new Watcher, had turned out to be a bad guy in good guy's clothing. And while everyone had been arguing, she'd slipped the Glove on and tried to kill them all with those damned lightning bolts.

The library had been trashed – God only knew how Giles had later explained it to Snyder and the school board. However, the moment he'd had a clear angle of fire, Xander had deliberately taken aim with his pistol and shot Post three times in the head – injuring her despite her mystically enhanced resilience, and distracting the woman long enough for Buffy to hack off the arm containing the Glove with a sword, which had killed the ex-Watcher.

Well, Angel had saved Giles's life that night from a well-aimed lightning bolt, so at least now everyone was tolerating her honey's presence again – more or less. However, even the tiniest smidgin of trust was well and truly gone. And the Slayer could tell it was going to take a LONG time to ever build up again.

Still, all that didn't change the wiggy feeling she had whenever the Buff-meister encountered Xander these days. And the blonde girl now suspected that Harris had been right all along, wanting to distance himself from Cordelia that way, for all the reasons he'd explained...

Because the guy had changed a LOT in the last two weeks, and it wasn't just the whole gun episode thing. Earlier today, their little gang had been talking about their SAT scores, and where she had scored 1430 – Harris had scored 1510!

Willow had been amazed and delighted at first, but then her face had fallen as she'd realized just WHY their bud from the Y side of things had done so well. And in the ensuing conversation over how Xander could probably go to practically any college he wanted to, he'd just said that his parents couldn't afford it – and that he had other plans in his life, anyway.

( _Like what?_ ) Buffy had thought to herself at the time. ( _Becoming an international assassin?_ )

That possibility had bugged the Summers girl a lot. And it also explained why Willow had been willing to use her mojo and had gotten caught trying to inflict a memory erasure spell on Xander, less than a week after Ethan had done what he did.

That had been a dark time in everyone's lives, for sure. Xander had refused to speak to his former best friend for days, after deciding to go to LA to get an anti-magic protection spell cast on himself – so that the apprentice witch could never try to do that to him again.

But Giles had certainly not been shy about speaking to Willow about it...

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD ALMIGHTY, DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!" the British man had literally screamed at the female hacker-turned-magic user, for maybe the first time in his life.

"I was just-"

"You were committing a CRIME – that's what you were doing, girl! Well? What have you got to say for yourself?"

"I was only trying to undo what was done to Xander, make him the person he was before he got possessed last week! I mean, haven't you noticed how...different he's become? He, like, never laughs or jokes around anymore. And the things he can do now...Xander scares the hell out of me, Giles! I was just trying to make things right again..." the child had quavered, on the brink of tears.

The Watcher had calmed down a bit and said, "I'll grant your motives were well-meaning, and yes – I have noticed the changes in him myself. But still – you had no right to try to alter Xander's mind and identity that way without his knowledge or consent, Willow. And if you ever try anything like that again, I'll call some people I know in England to bind your powers – to put a muzzle on all of your magic ability, for the rest of your life. Is that clear?"

Willow had just meekly nodded and left the library that day, trying to keep it together. And when Buffy had later spoken to her, the air of defeat and misery surrounding her redheaded best friend had shocked the young woman. Since Willow had suspected that deep down, Xander would never truly forgive her for this.

In trying not to lose a friend, she might just have guaranteed exactly that happening.

As Buffy got to the library, she came out of her reverie as she heard two male voices within the so-called Batcave. She then stopped outside the doors and listened, her Slayer hearing allowing her to eavesdrop effortlessly.

"So where exactly are you going on this little holiday trip, Rupert?" Xander said, as he saw the Watcher packing.

Giles glanced up at the casual mention of his first name like this; it was yet another example of how drastically different the boy's character was nowadays, he mused absently. ( _Well, at least he's not calling me that confounded nickname anymore..._ )

"The retreat? Oh it's, um, it's at the clearing at the top of Breaker's Woods. It's the site of some fascinating Druidic rituals..." Giles then added.

"Well, I'm afraid those people are gonna have to wait a few minutes. Because we need to talk."

"Oh? Why?"

"I'm concerned about Faith," Xander said with a troubled look on his features, as he leaned against the book cage.

Giles grabbed a book from out of there. "Why do you say that?" he asked absently, preparing to pack a few more things.

"Her behaviour...well, it's troublesome to me. And my instincts on this are saying something needs to be done to help her, as soon as possible. Thing is – I only have bits and pieces of those memories, but I know Delta saw a lot of people in Medusa and elsewhere develop problems like hers; and that those types usually self-destructed in the end – if nothing was ever done to stop it."

Giles instantly stopped what he was doing, and turned around to face his young friend. "Go on."

Xander sighed. "Ever since that bitch Gwen Post-It came to town, Faith's been pulling away from the gang. And when I went to see her at her hotel room the other day, I finally understood why she's not exactly all with the deep bonding thing; given how the place she lives at, people only rent rooms by the hour. And some hooker turning tricks only a few doors down from her, really added to the place's ambience!"

Giles was shocked. "I, I didn't know..."

Xander didn't get it. "How could you..." Then the male teen's expression darkened. "She's been here for nearly two months – and you never even went over to see what kind of place she was staying at, did you? What kind of Watcher do you call yourself, Mr. Giles? Is Buffy the only Slayer you care about?"

Outside in the corridor, Ms. Summers cringed at that one. And inside the library, Giles stepped away from the cold mask Harris's face had become. "No, I...of course not! Well, obviously, from everything you've said, we'll have to find Faith some new accommodations..."

Xander dismissed that observation immediately. "Already done. Faith's moved in with me, as of yesterday."

The librarian looked astonished. "You, you persuaded your parents to allow her to stay at your house?"

Xander's eyes narrowed, and Giles involuntarily took a step back upon seeing the expression in them. But the boy simply said, "I don't live with those people anymore, by mutual agreement. And even though I turn 18 in a few months, they decided to sign the emancipation documents anyway."

"But you're a high school student, how can you afford-"

Xander exhaled sharply. "I had to dispose of a lot of my assets, but I scrounged together enough to at least cover the security deposit and the up-front rental money."

"I see..."

"I doubt it, given how you've never met my parents, but that's neither here nor there right now." The youth's tone was completely cold and impersonal when he replied to that comment.

Giles couldn't help it; he flushed in embarrassment as Harris went on, "Important thing is, I told Faith I needed a roommate to help pay the rent, and to keep the place safe at nights; the neighborhood isn't exactly prime real estate. That way, she was convinced it was a no-strings-attached sort of deal; well, that and I mentioned that if I ever tried anything, what with her Slayer strength...she'd kick my ass into next week."

Giles smirked a little. "Very clever of you, I must say."

Xander shrugged. "Slayers are teenage girls, Rupert. Super-powers or not, all you have to do is just find the right buttons to push – the same as for every other human being in this world. And I should know – I mean, how else do you think Bourne blackmailed his way into getting over 20,000 francs in one afternoon, from a cheating husband?"

The Watcher stared at his companion carefully. "Xander...I'm definitely going to have to find the time to read that book, very soon. This, this Jason Bourne chap sounds like quite the character..."

Xander smiled, but only VERY slightly. "Not that I can remember it – but Webb was the best at what he did, Rupert. North Vietnamese intelligence had one extraordinary price on his head, because of all the...acts...he committed. I've read how Delta knew how to handle people, even the scum that became part of Medusa. He knew how to keep his men alive in the jungle, and he could kill without mercy if it became necessary. The original Jason Bourne, the slave trader, he sure as hell learned that when he betrayed his unit near Tam Quan..."

Unable to stomach hearing anymore, Buffy came in at that point to join into the conversation. And soon, after Giles had finished packing and left for the retreat, the Slayer invited Xander to train with her for a while.

"I don't know..."

"Please? Just hold the punching bag, that's all I'm asking!"

But later, after Xander had acquiesced, Buffy also couldn't help asking, "So, wanna spar with me?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Xander said at once.

"Why not?"

"Well, I know that you were listening outside in the corridor while Giles and I were talking. And to the casual observer, it looks like you might want some payback for that whole 'pushing her buttons' thing..."

Buffy dropped the happy Slayer act and stopped punching and kicking the bag, as Xander lowered it to the floor. "If this is gonna be honesty time – you're really starting to worry me, Xander. The way you act and talk, the way you love using guns, and the way you're still being so cold to Willow..."

Harris thought about it for a few moments, and then started to speak. "Okay, Buffy, here's a scenario for you that you might be able to relate to, in order to better understand; the Council suddenly decides it won't tolerate your relationship with Angel anymore. Which is a legitimate concern you must admit, what with the threat potential and all. SO, they decide to get...pro-active-"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ms. Summers asked at once.

"Say they order Giles to do a memory erasure spell on you, to make you completely forget who Angel is. Despite his personal feelings, Rupert obeys orders like a good soldier, and the next time you see Deadboy on the street...Mr. Pointy sends him into oblivion, before he even knows what's up. And here's the kicker – at this point, the spell ends, and everything comes rushing back. How do you feel?"

Buffy looked at Xander in sick horror. "That's not...Giles would never do something like that!"

The male teen replied, "Fine, then imagine that the Watchers send someone else to do it without his knowledge. But either way, Buff, the point is, if someone tries to violate you like that...you don't exactly get over it in a hurry. Willow is my case in point."

The Slayer shot back, "You wouldn't be acting this way if Ethan Rayne hadn't done that spell on you-"

He interrupted, "Probably not, no. But he did, and it happened. Buffy, I've had some time to come to terms with who I am nowadays...and despite all the baggage, the nightmares and flashbacks...bottom line is that the new and improved version of Xander Harris has a lot more to contribute to the cause than going to get the donuts, and providing a well-timed quip when you go out to Slay. So, if I had the chance to do it all over again – I wouldn't change a thing, even if I could."

Ms. Summers looked at him carefully. "So, does that mean you and Cordelia-?"

Harris instantly shook his head. "We're over, and she's moved on. In fact, I heard recently that she's now dating your old boyfriend, Scott Hope..."

Buffy grimaced. "Yeah, like those two are gonna last long!"

Xander stared at her, and raised an eyebrow. "This, from a Slayer involved with a vampire? Someone who'll never grow old with you, never be able to give you children or take you out into the daylight?"

The female Champion glared at him. "God, Xander! I shoulda known that your petty jealousy of him would rear its ugly head again, soon enough-!"

But the X-man looked calm and unaffected by her accusation. "The old Xander was jealous of that guy, I'll grant you that. But the person I am today...Buffy, I remember what it was like truly being in love with a woman, I remember...him...and Marie eagerly sharing each other's bodies at night; and never having to worry about soul loss-age and becoming a monster. No...trust me, Slay-gal – if there's anything I feel for Angel now, it's just a mild splash of pity – with a bit of disgust thrown in for good measure, of course."

Buffy just turned around and left, obviously not wanting to hear this any longer. Xander simply started to put things away, getting ready to lock up for the night...when the telephone rang.

"Hello?" Harris answered it.

#Xander? Oh, hello dear. Is Buffy there?# Joyce's voice came over the phone, now sounding a lot more grown-up than when she'd been stuffing her face with the band candy.

"No, Mrs. Summers," Xander replied politely. "She left a while ago, and I guess she's probably on her way home."

#Oh, I see. Well, thank you for telling me – I was hoping to get a chance to talk to her tonight, discuss where my little girl is going to go for college-#

#Hello, Joyce.#

Xander's eyes widened with recognition at the British male background voice. Primarily because he'd had nightmares about the vampire it belonged to, after Angel had offered him to that bloodsucker as a snack during Parent-Teacher Night last year.

Spike was back in town.

Harris dropped the phone and tore out of the library as fast as he could go.

**

* * *

**

The Girls' Locker Room, Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. A few minutes later

Cordelia Chase was not in a good mood, and the rest of the cheerleaders all around her knew it too.

Her so-called best friend named Harmony Kendall stared at her hero, her role model, and wondered what was wrong with the newly-reinstated leader of the pack. Then with an uncharacteristic burst of insight the busty blonde thought to herself, ( _Oh, please! It's like, so obvious – she still hasn't gotten over that loser Xander Harris!_ )

A moment later, the stunned Ms. Kendall wondered if she had jinxed herself – as the doors slammed open, and Xander burst inside. Some of the girls screamed and tried to cover themselves up, but the male teenager paid them no attention; he just ran over to Cordelia.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" the brunette girl demanded. "You-"

"I need your car keys!" Xander cut her off at once.

Cordelia just glared at him. "No way!"

At once Harris yelled, "Joyce's life is in danger – give me your damn keys. NOW!" And the look on his face was enough to scare Harmony out of her wits. ( _Wow, all those rumors are true...?_ )

Luckily Cordy instantly complied, then grabbed her bag and started to follow Xander out. As they headed for the doors he snapped at her, "Stay here!"

"And leave my car in YOUR hands? Think again, you loser!"

Xander didn't have time to argue with her, and as they ran out of the locker room – all the sheep instantly started to gossip about why Queen C was again consorting with her "psycho ex", of all people.

**

* * *

**

Hadley Street, Sunnydale. Ten minutes later

Ms. Chase briefly screamed in fear, over the rate of speed at which Xander was driving her car as he turned the corner.

After regaining her composure, she tried to focus and be objective again. But in Cordy's mind it just felt so...weird, being back together with her former boyfriend like this. From a certain point of view, it also felt kinda nice, all sexy and stuff from the blood-pounding excitement of...

( _No! That way lies badness, and-and extreme heartache. It's OVER, between you and the damn dorkhead!_ )

All of a sudden Cordy heard the howl of a police siren, and as Xander abruptly slammed down on the brakes she felt herself getting really annoyed. "Well, now you've done it! Look, lemme try to sweet-talk our way outta this..."

"No time." And with that, Xander grabbed her into a headlock.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Ms. Chase yelled, as she tried to get loose.

"Just play along, and pretend I'm a vampire..."

A few seconds later, the Sunnydale PD patrol officer came up to the car. ( _Damn stupid kids! What do they think they're playing at, speeding that way? Why, I oughta..._ )

But then the cop stopped, as he saw a teenage girl in a cheerleader's uniform struggling with the driver. The young man in question turned around and said with a smirk, "Evening, officer. Sorry about the rush, but then I'm late for a party with my date here! What do you say...wanna join us?"

The girl screamed incoherently and struggled pointlessly as the gang member high on PCP – there was no doubt in the policeman's mind that that was what he was, there was utterly no humanity in those eyes at all – just kept smirking at him. The patrol cop thus instantly started to back away, and then ran for his car and quickly disappeared into the night.

Xander hadn't waited long before he'd started the convertible and roared off towards Buffy's house once more. Cordelia just glared at him, "What did you think you were DOING, just now?"

"Testing a theory," Xander replied absently, his eyes on the road.

"What theory?" the cheerleader demanded, calming down a little.

"That the police in this town are not only criminally corrupt and criminally negligent – they know what's going on. Someone high up in the food chain must be giving them their orders to cover up all the vamp-related murders as 'wild animal attacks', or whatever. It's not just the Hellmouth energy making people blind and deaf about what's really happening in this town..."

Cordy just stared at her ex, not quite sure what to say as the houses flew past her in a blur.

**

* * *

**

1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale. A few minutes later

Contrary to what one might have expected, Spike hadn't come to Buffy's house to kill her mother.

No, after arriving in town in a drunken stupor, he'd killed the proprietor of the local magic shop after she wouldn't help him cast a curse on his sire, Drusilla; and THEN come here for a sympathetic ear, for someone to listen to his problems and maybe offer some helpful advice.

And oddly enough, that was exactly what the poor misguided woman was doing after hearing what William the Bloody had gone through with his undead paramour.

As Joyce went to make him some hot chocolate Spike said, "So I'm strolling through the park, looking for a meal, and I happen to walk by, and she's making out with this Chaos demon! And so I said, 'You know, I don't have to put up with this'. And she said, 'Fine!' So I said, 'Fine, do whatever you like!' I mean, I thought we were going to make up, you know..."

Joyce sat across from him at the table, serving him the chocolate. "Well, she sounds very unreasonable."

Spike nodded. "She is. She's out of her mind. And that's what I miss most about her!"

Joyce tried not to sigh. "Well, Spike, sometimes even when two people seem right for each other, their lives just take different paths. When Buffy's father and I-"

William interrupted at once, "No, this is different. Our love was eternal. Literally!" Then he calmed down a bit. "You got any of those little marshmallows?"

Buffy's mother wasn't sure. "Well, lemme look..."

She got up to go check, when suddenly the kitchen door blasted open; and Xander came through, with Cordelia right behind him. The boy then quickly aimed his Beretta at William the Bloody.

Spike never hesitated. The platinum-blonde vamp instantly grabbed Joyce, and used her as a shield. The middle-aged mom squawked in confusion before Spike went into game face and said, "Well, if it isn't Droopy Boy come tryin' to play hero! And the dumb cheerleader with huge tits as well. Come to rah-rah us with your pom-poms, have you?"

"HEY! Watch it, you peon!" Cordy spat out indignantly.

Xander could see Joyce was terrified, but still said coldly, "You made a big mistake coming back to Sunnydale, Spike."

The vampire replied with a grin, "Yeah? How do you figger that, mate?"

"Because the only way you're leaving this house, is in a Dust Buster."

Spike lost the smirk. "Drop the bloody gun, before I break her neck!"

But the human said coolly, "We both know the bullets won't kill you – but they WILL make you feel pain, vampire. And believe you me, I know exactly where to aim to make it hurt you the most..."

Spike was pissed by now, as well as annoyed at Xander's attitude...just as the boy had intended. "Enough talk, you bleeding wanker! And I told you, lose the pistol!"

"And then you kill Mrs. Summers before you try to escape? I don't think so!" Cordelia suddenly yelled.

"Oy, now I resent that! 'Cause I like the lady!" Spike shot back, offended.

Then in a split second, with supernatural speed, the vamp threw Joyce at Xander and jumped out of the nearest window, shattering the glass on his way out.

Spike ran for it, tearing along Revello Drive – only to encounter Buffy and Angel heading for her home. "Oh, bollocks!"

Cursing, the undead version of Sid Vicious ran the other way – only to encounter a vampire welcoming committee sent by order of the Deputy Mayor, Allan Finch. "Bloody hell! I don't believe this..."

It was at this point that Buffy and Angel caught up with him and then stared at the group of growling undead. "Friends of yours?" Angel asked his grandchilde.

"Hello, Spike," the leader of the gang spoke up.

"Lenny? Is that you, ya miserable sod?" Spike demanded, his hangover not allowing him to be completely sure.

"Guess that answers that," Buffy commented to her soul mate.

Lenny looked at Buffy and Angel. "You two can walk away from this. We're just here for him-"

"What? You used to work for me, you little pissant!" William the Bloody interrupted, as he unconsciously stood alongside Buffy and Angel.

"That was then, this is now. You shoulda stayed gone, Spike! What the hell, I heard you've gone all soft these days-" Lenny started to say.

Well, that did it. With a bestial roar Spike threw himself at the other vampire, and as the other undead got moving – the Slayage machine got into gear.

Buffy and Angel started ducking, punching and kicking as the fight really began to get going. Spike seemed to be having a grand old time of it too, beating up Lenny and yelling, "Gone soft, have I? Like baby food? Well, have a taste of this!"

All of a sudden, the sounds of several muted spits could be heard as some of the vampires started shrieking in pain. Both Buffy and Angel took advantage of it to stake them; and after Spike dusted Lenny, the leftover minions lost heart and ran away into the darkness.

"Thanks," Buffy heard Angel say to someone, and whirled around to see Xander lowering his silenced weapon, Cordelia of all people right beside him.

"You're welcome. Where's Spike?" Xander replied.

The Slayer looked around, but that vamp was nowhere to be seen. "Damn it! Another time," she promised herself with a mutter.

At that moment Joyce showed up – and as soon as she saw Angel, she screamed. "Buffy! Get away from him!" the parental unit's protective instincts kicking into high gear.

"No, Mom, it's okay! Angel's not...he, he's one of the good guys again," Buffy tried to explain.

"He's crazy! He'll kill us all!" Joyce insisted.

"Mom..." Ms. Summers was now starting to get exasperated. "Look, let's just all go back to the house and I'll explain everything, okay?"

Xander put away his firearm and checked his watch, "I can't, I've got to get going – Faith and I were gonna patrol, and she's probably wondering where I am. Not to mention, eating us both out of house and home!"

Buffy, Joyce and Angel moved off towards the house, while Cordelia just stared at him in incredulity. "Are you telling me that you're now living in the same house as that...that skanky 'ho?"

"Don't call her that," Xander scowled at her.

"Why not?" Ms. Chase got right in his face. "Because let's face it...deep down, that is pretty much what she is, isn't she?"

"You know, I'd almost forgotten – but you really can be such a complete and utter bitch when you want to be!" Xander growled at the female teen.

The reaction was automatic; Cordelia slapped him, hard across the face.

The pain and momentary darkness were enough to induce a memory flashback. There was a sensation of falling and brilliant blinding flashes of light; then men all around him, jabbering in an incomprehensible language...

( _Almanac to Delta, Almanac to Delta! Abandon, abandon! That is final!_ )

( _Delta to Almanac. You're final, brother. Go fuck yourself. Delta out, equipment damaged._ )

Xander came out of it a second later, only to find himself pointing his gun at his now-frightened ex-girlfriend. Somewhat in shock he quickly retired the weapon and asked, "What happened? I think I blacked out for a moment..."

Cordy said shakily, moving away from the armed man in evident apprehension, "You, you started mumbling something about Charlie, and Gordon, and your brother...but Xander, uh, aren't you an only child?"

"Yeah. Look, I'm sorry about that, my aiming a gun at you just now...but God damn it, I warned you something like this might happen right from the start! And you don't need to know details regarding Medusa and Treadstone," Harris said firmly. "Just go home, Cordelia."

Without another word, the Chase girl left the scene, and with a mental sigh the young man quickly headed for home himself.

**

* * *

**

Somewhere in Sunnydale. A while later

( _Well, that was a complete waste of time – apart from making me feel a bit better, from a good spot of violence,_ ) Spike thought to himself, as he finally slowed down and started walking towards his car. ( _Eh, never mind. Guess if plan A was a bust, I'll just go on to plan B – find Dru, tie her up, and torture her until she likes me again..._ )

That thought cheered William the Bloody up immensely, as he arrived back at his '59 DeSoto. He opened the door, and found a bottle of whiskey; with a grin, Spike was about to take a big gulp...

When he stopped, laughed, and threw the alcohol away. "Don't need this – I'm the Big Bad, I am! Oh yeah, baby, I'm back!"

The ancient vehicle then quickly roared off, heading south.

**

* * *

**

Angel's mansion, Crawford Street, Sunnydale. The next day

The Irish-born vampire was waiting for someone, and had been for some time. Finally, he heard her footsteps and saw his beloved Slayer stop some distance away from him.

Angel said simply, "Hey. I was wondering when you were coming...uh, how did it go with your mother?"

"Not good. She was very...it was almost as bad as when the rest of the gang found out that you were around again, that night," Buffy replied, still visibly upset.

Angel moved towards her, but Buffy stepped back. "Angel, I've thought about it; about what Mom, and Xander, and Giles, and all the others have said. And I've decided...I'm not coming back here again."

Angel just looked at her as the blonde girl went on, "Look, I-I can't fool myself about it any longer; what I want from you, I can never have. We both need to accept that. And you don't need me to take care of you anymore. So I'm just gonna go."

Angel didn't want to accept this. "There's gotta be some way we can still see each other-"

Buffy looked lost, alone, and oh-so-very young. "There is: just tell me that you don't love me."

Knowing in his heart that saying those words would be a lie, Angel decided to say nothing instead and simply stared at her. After a long moment, Buffy turned around and headed back towards the mansion's front door, trying to make it out of there before bursting into tears.

**

* * *

**

No. 4 Parkview, Sunnydale. Later that night

It had been a very bad day for her at school. And so Cordelia Chase was doing something that she felt she should have done long ago.

She finished cutting up the pictures of her and Xander Harris together, and with a determined look in her eyes the young woman started burning them in a bowl in her darkened bedroom. ( _That's it. We're done, mister!_ )

And yet, somehow, deep in her heart of hearts...Cordelia wasn't sure if she completely believed that.

**

* * *

**

The Bronze, Sunnydale. The same time

Willow Rosenberg watched her boyfriend Oz playing a set on stage with his band, "Dingoes Ate My Baby", before she turned to see Xander playing pool with Faith – and her eyes started to get indescribably wet.

( _You're never going to get over what I did, are you?_ ) she thought to herself, as the redhead thought of the way Xander had blown her off after they had arrived at the club tonight.

Still...maybe there was a SLIGHT chance she was wrong.

**

* * *

**

Somewhere in southern California. The next day

Spike's car sped along the empty highway, and in its interior the male vampire smoked slightly from the deadly beams of sunlight trying to make their way through the blackened windows.

But William the Bloody didn't even seem to notice, as he sang along with Gary Oldman's version of 'My Way' blaring on the radio: "And more, much more than this – I DID IT, MY WAYYYYY!"

To Be Continued In Part 3


	3. Helplessly Devoted To You

See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. Thanks to the people who have reviewed so far.

**

* * *

**

Part III: Helplessly Devoted To You

**Angel's mansion, Crawford Street, Sunnydale. January, 1998**

It had been quite the eventful few months.

Cordelia Chase had been dumped by her boyfriend Scott Hope after the gossip of what had happened in the locker room that evening reached his ears. And later, the boy had also told everyone who would listen that she was gay. But Queen C had quickly reasserted herself, causing Scott's popularity to go down the toilet after she hooked up with the starting quarterback of the football team, and again assumed her place at the top of the school's social pyramid. And thus, the demoness Anyanka was never summoned to Sunnydale...

Angel had almost killed himself that Christmas, but failed thanks to the miracle of snow – as he and Buffy got back together, sort of.

A girl named Amy Madison had ended up a rat, as the Scooby gang learned that even in Sunnydale – fairy tales can come true.

But none of that mattered right now as Buffy and Angel trained together. As they fought, the blonde Slayer tripped her opponent, straddled his waist and attempted to stake him with a baguette. "Gotcha!"

Flat on his back, the vampire had to acknowledge defeat. "Uhh! Right in the heart."

Buffy smirked. "It's like, three victory cheers for THIS Slayer!" She then got off of Angel, and helped the vampire up.

The 250-year-old creature said, "Thanks for the workout."

"No problem, but I better get going. Giles is waiting for me, I think..."

The former Angelus frowned. "How's he doing?"

"Um, okay. So are Willow and Oz, now that Xander and her have started mending fences. And oh, don't get me started on him and Faith! I mean, those two living together? Yeah, I'm sure Xander's having LOTS of fun at nights..." Buffy rolled her eyes, then she caught Angel's look. "What?"

"They're not sleeping together, Buffy. I'm sure of that."

"How..." Then the Chosen One blushed, "Uh, oh yeah, I guess you of all people could tell, huh?"

Angel went on as if she hadn't spoken, "I mean, it would be psychologically impossible for them to ever get together, anyway."

Buffy frowned. "'Splainy?"

"Ever since Xander was possessed by that so-called assassin last year...he just doesn't act like a teenager anymore, you know. His mannerisms, his knowledge base...maybe you're too close to see it, but I'm not. Unconsciously, I think Harris sees you and the rest of your classmates as just children now. That's why it wouldn't surprise me if he rejected her as gently as he could, if Faith ever tried to seduce him."

The young woman got a little upset at his words. "Is that how you see us too? I mean, do you see ME just as some swoony little schoolgirl?"

"Of course not!" Angel rushed to reassure her. "You're the Slayer, Buffy. You could never be that!" He rushed to change the subject. "How's Cordelia?"

Ms. Summers decided to let the previous topic slide for now. "Just between us? I think she misses Xander über-bad, given how she just broke up with ANOTHER boyfriend. And she hasn't forgotten everything Angelus did, either; that's probably why she doesn't trust either you OR me nowadays."

The vampire shrugged. "Guess you can't blame her, all things considered..."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale, California. Later that night

Long after sunset at a playground, Buffy was doing what she did best: slaying vampires with an excellent pun on her lips. "Wow, that was really funny-looking! Could you do it again?"

The bloodsucker, who had fallen down a slide in a very undignified way, got up and snarled, "I'll kill you for that!"

"For that? What were you trying to kill me for before?" Buffy riposted.

They fought again, and just as Buffy raised her stake to finish him off...she was overcome by a wave of dizziness, that completely blindsided her.

The vamp tried to take advantage of the opening she'd given him...but before he could do anything a familiar muted spit was heard, and the vamp started screaming in agony, clutching at the ruined remains of his right eye.

Xander then came up and finished off the enemy, putting the wounded creature out of its misery with a stake to the heart. Then he turned to the Slayer, "You okay, Buffy?"

"Yeah, I...hey, did you decide to patrol without me or Faith? Remember, there are union rules about that – the Slayage is only allowed to be done by us professionals!"

Xander didn't appreciate the joke. "Faith's over at Restfield Cemetery. Plan is for us to hook up later, around eleven or so. We might just go home afterwards – it's been pretty dead tonight so far, apart from that guy just now."

Buffy looked at her friend, and could not help but be envious of his easy relationship with her sister Slayer. ( _Does Faith even realize just how lucky she is?_ ) "Well, okay. Guess I might just call it a night too."

"Okay, Buff. See ya at school tomorrow."

Xander Harris then watched as the blonde Slayer left, a curious frown appearing on his face as he contemplated her departure.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. The next day

Rupert Giles headed for the library, and as he entered his private domain he heard a number of crashing noises. "Buffy? What's going on?"

The older Slayer gestured towards a target board she had set up, that had a few knives sticking out of it. "Giles, something's wrong!"

"I beg your pardon?"

Ms. Summers threw a knife at the target, but missed completely. "Look! I'm way off my game. My game's left the country. It's in Cuernavaca! And on top of that, I got a bad case of the dizzies last night and almost let a vamp get lucky!"

"Are you all right?" the British man asked in concern.

"Yeah, yeah, Xander was there to help out. Vampire went poof, no problem."

"I see...well, Buffy, perhaps you've got a bad flu bug or something-"

But the blonde high school senior didn't want to accept that. "No. No, not sick. I CAN'T get sick! My dad's coming to take me to the ice show. We do it every year for my birthday! If I cancel, it's gonna break his heart!"

Rupert just shrugged. "Well, just, um, take it easy for 48 hours. You know, leave the patrolling in Faith's hands, until you feel yourself again."

Buffy looked at him, and then just worriedly left the library after a hasty goodbye. Giles sat at the table and took a sip of his coffee, before putting down the cup – and burying his face in his hands.

"What have I done?" he murmured to himself in anguish, feeling the guilt of betraying Buffy this way; for he was responsible regarding what had happened last night, after having injected his charge with a serum to deprive her of her powers for the upcoming Cruciamentum ritual. "And what more would they have me do..."

Giles went into his private office, and shut the door. And Xander came out of the stacks, staring in his direction and frowning.

He then picked up the phone, and dialled his home number. "Hey, Faith, it's Xander. Look, something's wrong with Buffy, you'll probably have to patrol tonight without me – I got some investigating to do..."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Later that day

Buffy and Giles were talking, and the young woman was trying to convince her distracted Watcher to take her to the ice show. Because to her bitter disappointment, Hank Summers had canceled at the last moment.

"A lot of sophisticated people go!" the tiny blonde declared, a semi-desperate expression on her face.

Giles just replied, "Yes, I think we should start with the grounding crystal again," as he set a large blue crystal on the table in front of Buffy.

The Slayer tried again, "You know, it's usually something that families do together-"

The Council operative ignored that. "Now, look very carefully for the tiny flaw at its core."

"I-if someone were free, they'd take their daughters or their student...or their Slayer?" Buffy looked up at him hopefully.

Giles still appeared lost in his own world. "Hmm? Yes, but, Buffy, I think we should concentrate now. Now, look for the flaw at its center."

Buffy gave up and started to concentrate on the crystal. And soon enough, Ms. Summers went into a trance-like state. Giles leaned over and looked into her face, "Buffy?"

Satisfied that she was indeed caught in the crystal's thrall, Rupert pulled a case out from his briefcase, set it on the table and opened it. He then grabbed a hypodermic needle, a vial full of a clear yellow liquid and an alcohol-soaked gauze pad from within the case.

Keeping a careful eye on Buffy, the librarian started to fill the syringe, then tapping it to get rid of any air bubbles and pushing on the plunger until the fluid began to squirt out. He quickly rubbed Buffy's arm with the gauze pad, and just as he was about to lean over and inject the serum into the teenage girl – Giles heard a distinctive 'click', and felt the cold muzzle of a gun barrel against the back of his head.

"Guess this really is quite a Kodak moment here, isn't it, Rupert?"

Giles felt a chill travel down his back, as he straightened up and Xander moved away to face him. The gun never wavered from pointing at his head, though. ( _Oh, bloody hell..._ )

"I can explain-" he started to say.

"I don't doubt it. What I DO doubt is whether anyone is gonna like your explanation." Xander then nudged Buffy's chair, breaking the thrall. "You awake now, Buff?"

"Huh?" Ms. Summers was confused for a second, before she looked up. "Xander! What the hell are you doing?"

The young man never even looked at her. "Eavesdropping a lot, lately. As well as watching Giles hypnotize you, just now. Not to mention preventing him from injecting you with whatever filthy shit is in that syringe that he's holding."

Buffy was understandably confused, and just stared at her father figure. "What-?"

"I'm all ears, MISTER Giles," Xander said dangerously. "So, tell me – what exactly is that stuff in your possession?"

The man said shakily, "It's an organic compound...of muscle relaxants and adrenal suppressers. Its effect is only temporary...Buffy wasn't in any direct danger from it..."

Harris started to smile like a predator. "So, lemme guess – you've injected it into her before now, right? That explains why she lost it last night, at that playground. Why she might have gotten killed if I hadn't been there. Okay, I think we've covered the 'how'. Wanna get started on the 'why'?"

Buffy looked like her whole world had been torn apart. "You stuck a needle in me. You, you poisoned me?"

"I didn't want to. But, but if I hadn't done it, someone else would have-" the British man said desperately.

"Who are you? How could you do this to me?" the girl looked at him in horror and betrayal.

"I am so...so very deeply sorry. But it's, it's a test, Buffy..." Giles took off his glasses, once he was sure Xander wouldn't shoot him out of hand for it. "It's given to the Slayer once she...uh, well, IF she reaches her 18th birthday. It's called the Cruciamentum-"

"That's Latin. Translates to 'torture' or 'torment', if I recall correctly," Xander said laconically, his latest set of artificial memories providing him with a quick translation. "Great name you came up with there, Rupert!"

Giles ignored that none-too-subtle jibe. "In certain matters of tradition and protocol, I must answer to the Council. My role in this...was very specific. I was to administer the injections and take her to the place of the test, without her knowing. Had I refused or warned her, I would have been dismissed from my duties and sent back to England, and my replacement would do the job in my place..."

Xander quietly contemplated that bit of information with an angry expression on his face. "I see," was the only thing he said though.

The Englishman then said desperately, "Buffy, I cannot apologize enough...but whether or not you believe me, the Watchers will put you through this pointless archaic ritual, whether any of us like it or not..."

"I don't know you anymore!" Buffy screamed, her eyes beginning to tear up. Then she turned to Xander, "Remember that conversation we had, the night Spike came back to town? Looks like you were right and I was wrong, Giles WOULD obey orders like that..." the girl sobbed before she left the library.

Xander sighed and put away the gun, making a note to hide it here or somewhere else later – he couldn't afford to be found carrying a concealed weapon on the school grounds, after all, without getting suspended or even expelled, not to mention arrested. Then he said, "Well, that went well, don't you think?"

"This is no time for jokes!" Giles snapped.

"To which I say, does it LOOK like I'm laughing?" Harris replied, his manner growing ice-cold. "Now, you listen to me very carefully, British man. I want details on that stupid-ass test; what it involves exactly, and when and where it's supposed to go down. And if you lie to me, by this time tomorrow...you'll be just another Sunnydale statistic! If not by my hand, then someone else's – Faith's, or maybe even Angel's. Because I don't think either of them will deal very well, with your little act of betrayal. Do you?"

The older man just stared at him, and started to recite details regarding the mad cannibalistic vampire known as Zachary Kralik...

**

* * *

**

Angel's mansion, Crawford Street, Sunnydale. Later that day

An urgent meeting was taking place, as Willow and Buffy spoke with Angel during lunchtime. "Have you ever heard of anything like this, Angel?" the apprentice witch asked, still unable to believe that Giles of all people had done that to her best friend.

The ensouled vampire frowned. "Well, I've heard of the term "Tento di Cruciamentum". I've never directly heard of the Council's test, but I DID meet another vampire once who claimed to have killed a very weak Slayer – and gotten away from the Watchers afterwards-"

Angel noticed their stares and clarified, "That was back in the 19th century, when I was still Angelus. And that vamp was the same one who mentioned the Cruciamentum thing to me, too."

"Wow, it's just – I, I'm sorry, but my whole world is still like completely gone cockeyed here! I mean, Giles? Who'd have ever thought he'd be party to something like this?" Willow asked her companions in disbelief.

Angel knew the Slayer was still feeling betrayed by her mentor, and so came up behind her and let the beautiful young teenager lean against his chest. He said soothingly, "Buffy, I know it's hard – but please, don't let this one incident completely destroy your relationship with the guy..."

"What did you say to me?" the blonde whirled around in shock.

The vampire sighed. "Giles is a good man, who's saved your life more than once. But in this case, he was stuck in the middle of an impossible situation. Come on, Buffy – deep down, you know that's true. This so-called test would have happened to you one way or another, even if he'd refused to go through with his part of it. I guess it was just lucky Xander was there to catch him at it, when he did-"

Buffy looked thoughtful. "You know what? I don't think luck comes into it much these days, where Xander's concerned. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he's been stalking me lately..."

"I prefer to think of it as constructive lurking, myself," Harris commented, as he and Faith entered the room.

A round of "hey's' and "hi's" took place, as the Scooby gang decided they needed to come up with a plan. Faith said, "Seems pretty simple to me; tomorrow, B just takes a vacation in LA or whatever-"

Angel shook his head. "That's not sure enough. The Council might try to kidnap her and later force her into it, anyway."

"So, from midnight tonight we all gotta stand guard, right? Anyone who tries to come for Buffy, we stop 'em!" Willow said eagerly.

"Can't be that simple, Will. This is Sunnydale, after all! And where's this thing supposed to happen, anyway?" Buffy wanted to know.

"According to Giles, the Sunnydale Arms boarding-house. Abandoned old place, over on Prescott Lane," Xander supplied.

"So, you got a plan?" Faith asked.

Xander looked thoughtful. "Okay, this is gonna sound pretty radical, but hear me out..."

Everyone waited for details as Harris said, "Look, as far as we know, the Council has no idea that we've figured out their little game. I mean, I REALLY doubt that Giles is gonna tell anybody what happened in the library today! So maybe Buffy should just turn up at the place tomorrow night as expected, pretending that she has no idea what's going on-"

"WHAT?" the three girls exclaimed.

"Let me finish! As I said, Buffy turns up like she's supposed to...but the rest of us will already be there. Hidden and ready to take out that insane-o vamp for her, the moment the Watchers lock her in with the damn thing. The Tweed Brigade need never know Buffy wasn't alone, and everyone ends up happy!"

Willow's eyes went wide. "You mean, cheat?"

The young woman could then easily see the ghost of that professional killer lurking in Xander's eyes as he replied with barest trace of a smile, "Well. As far as I'm concerned, the concept of fair play doesn't exist when vamps and demons are part of the situation!"

**

* * *

**

1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale. The next night

The time had almost come for Xander's plan to be put in action, as the group had finally decided to go with it in the end. Buffy had just arrived at her house, expecting to be picked up soon by Giles to be taken to the Sunnydale Arms – when all of a sudden the Watcher's old Citroen pulled up next to her.

"You're early..." the blonde girl said with a frown, still not having completely forgiven Rupert for what he'd done to her.

But Giles looked almost crazed, as he got out of the car. "Buffy! Are you all right?"

She frowned again. "Sure, why?"

The Watcher sighed with relief. "Thank God! Buffy, listen to me – Kralik's escaped!"

"What?" Buffy shouted.

"There's more – two of the men that were on guard duty at the boarding-house are dead. He's killed Hobson, and made Blair one of his own! That means Kralik now knows who you are, and where you live-"

The female teenager instantly had a horrible feeling about all this, her heart suddenly thundering in her chest, and as she rushed to the front door – her worst fears came to life, as Buffy saw a Polaroid photo taped to the doorframe. It was one of her mother being held by the neck by Zachary Kralik, and the word "Come" was written on the back.

"Oh dear God..." Giles said in horror, as he came up and saw the photograph too. "We've got to go after her!"

"No, I've got it under control. Me and my friends will save her," Buffy told him coldly, as she went into her house to stock up on weapons.

Giles just stood there in shock, and wondered if he'd truly lost her confidence forever if she didn't want his help even at a time like this...

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale Arms Boarding-house, Prescott Lane, Sunnydale. A short while later

Xander, Faith, Buffy and Angel arrived at the field of play, loaded for bear and ready to kick ass. The two male-female teams entered the house and then split up; Xander and Faith went looking for the guy named Blair, while Angel tracked Joyce's scent and led Buffy to the basement.

"Hide and seeeek. We're playing a game, but you're not playing by the rules," Kralik's voice taunted them, as the good guys came upon the bound and gagged Summers woman.

"Sorry. But then, I've never been one to jump through the hoops of others if I can possibly help it," Buffy called out, trying to spot where the voice was coming from.

"Who's your friend, Slayer?" the insane vampire wanted to know.

"Name's Angelus. You might have heard of me," Angel vamped out, despite Joyce's freaked expression.

"Indeed I have. Alas, but you have strayed from the path, and you have lost your way..." the crazy killer crooned.

"This guy is seriously starting to annoy me," Angel muttered, holding his sword ready as Buffy removed the gag and started to try to untie Joyce.

Elsewhere, Xander was looking for those of the soulless undead variety. Faith had her crossbow out and was looking as well, but she was still taken by surprise when the newbie vampire attacked her without warning.

Blair punched her hard, knocking the weapon out of her hands and sending the Slayer sailing away against the wall. Xander had no time to open fire, before the other guy slapped the pistol out of his hand as he flew towards his throat. So Harris just cocked his elbow to smash it into the creature's face; and as the blow landed he cried out, "Mee-sah!"

Automatically, the boy then lifted his right leg and brought his boot down hard on the ex-Watcher's kneecap; a horrible crunching noise was heard as the dead thing was crippled with a violent scream. "Kwa-sah!"

Xander then turned the stunned Blair around, and hurled him towards Faith; as the dark-haired Slayer stabbed him with her pointy stick, the bloodsucker exploded into dust.

"Now that's what I call a decent Slay!" Faith joked, as she walked over and high-fived her partner.

Back in the basement, Zachary Kralik got tired of the cat-and-mouse game, and unexpectedly attacked. He slammed Buffy out of the way, who was still not at the top of her game, and took on Angel after she was knocked out cold.

After batting the sword aside with his own makeshift weapon, the two vamps fought ferociously, Kralik finally grabbing the good guy by the throat and forcing the other vampire down to his knees – with the sort of strength that only the insane can possess, in times of desperation.

Kralik was then seriously trying to dust Angel by simply ripping his head off, when a wooden plank crashed into his face. Said weapon being held by the one and only Rupert Giles, who had arrived unnoticed into the battle zone.

"Buffy, get him!" the Watcher shouted.

The blonde girl, who had woken up by now, didn't waste her opportunity – as the soulless vampire staggered backwards, she threw some holy water into Kralik's face. While he was blinded and roaring from the pain, Ms. Summers quickly used Mr. Pointy to turn the deranged creature into pancake mix.

Buffy and Giles stared at each other for a long moment, before she went to untie her mother and Rupert helped Angel up off the floor.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Later that night

"Congratulations, you passed."

The words from Quentin Travers, who was Giles' direct superior in their organization, meant nothing as far as Buffy was concerned. A short and tense conversation then took place, as Rupert learned that even though his charge has passed the Cruciamentum test he himself had not.

"I've recommended to the Council, and they've agreed, that you be relieved of your duties as Watcher immediately. You're fired," Travers said calmly.

Giles looked somewhat taken aback by this. "On what grounds?"

"Your affection for your charge has rendered you incapable of clear and impartial judgment. You have a father's love for the child, and that is useless to the cause. It would be best if you had no further contact with the Slayer-"

Rupert interrupted with some hostility, "I'm not going anywhere."

Quentin looked unsurprised to hear this. "No, well, I didn't expect you would adhere to that. However, if you interfere with the new Watcher, or countermand his authority in any way, you will be dealt with. Are we clear?"

Giles nodded slowly. "Oh, we're very clear."

Quentin then just bowed slightly to Buffy. "Congratulations again-"

She just looked at him, with a stare of weary hatred and contempt. "Bite me," the blonde girl said vehemently.

Quentin chuckled, "Yes, well..." before he turned around, and left the library.

However, Travers didn't get very far before someone used a weapon on the back of his head to club him unconscious. And not long afterwards, Quentin woke up to find himself alone in one of the classrooms with some idiot male teenager. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you?"

"You can call me Delta. No, better yet – call me Cain," Xander said, a grim smile on his face as he took aim with his gun.

"Whatever you're up to, Mr. Cain, you won't get away with it-" Travers started to bluster, as Harris then lowered the weapon a little.

"What am I up to? Well now, that's an interesting question. But an even more interesting one would be, what did you think YOU were doing – stripping a teenage girl of her powers, and locking her up with that undead...psychotic?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but the Cruciamentum is hallowed ritual-"

"Myself, I think it's an effective means of weeding out the stupid Slayers – and the ones that get a bit too independent for your taste," Xander shot back with a smirk.

Travers was beginning to get annoyed. "This is pointless, I'm leaving-"

But as soon as he tried to do so, Xander raised his Browning again. "I think I've figured it out, you know. The real reason why you did this to Buffy, and why you'll also try to do it to Faith when her time comes. It's all about demonstrating who's got the power. Well, that's why we've decided to send a little message to your Council, in a language that I'm sure they'll understand."

"What are you blathering about?" Travers demanded imperiously.

"Bottom line, that what's good for the goose is also good for the gander. And any other motherfuckers from England that come here to pull that crap on one of my girls again, are gonna suffer the exact same fate as you," Xander said, his manner suddenly viciously and frighteningly lethal.

"I still don't-"

"Welcome to your own Cruciamentum, Mr. Travers. Your test begins, as soon as I leave here; and the only way in or out for you is through this door. Now, in just a few moments, you're going to be locked up in here with a vampire. If you manage to survive, you pass the test," Harris said with a smirk.

"You can't do this!" Travers thundered, even as his face went white with fear.

"Well, who's going to stop me? You?" Xander went to the door and opened it, after knocking Quentin down when he tried to run for it. "By the way, I should warn you – the vampire you're about to face? That was his girlfriend you just tried to sacrifice, earlier tonight..."

Xander locked the door behind him, as a pissed-off Angel stepped into the room. And then the young man just smiled coldly, for the muffled sounds of screaming could easily be heard as he walked off down the school corridor...

To Be Continued In Part 4


	4. When Bad Girls Go Good

See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. Thanks again to all those who have reviewed! Keeps awriter motivated...

**

* * *

**

Part IV: When Bad Girls Go Good

**Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. February, 1999**

Xander was on a terminal within the computer lab, frowning. Up until last week, the young man had been busy; not only taking out Jack O'Toole and his zombie gang, but also trying to put to good use all the knowledge he had gleaned from the instincts and memories of Bourne, Delta and Cain.

Back in the late 1970's, of course, the intelligence business had been focused on human assets; computers had basically been in their infancy, even though the first PCs had already started to come out. But Harris knew that that was then, and this was now; and he was also smart enough to have realized how knowledge of the cyber-world could help him in his work.

So to kill two birds with one stone, he'd decided to ask Willow to help him; not only because of all the tricks she knew, but also to try to rebuild their friendship to some semblance of what it had been.

He started typing again. And not far away in the library, Giles and Faith were training with swords, both Slayers having gotten over their issues with the ex-Watcher in the three weeks since Buffy's birthday.

The English librarian had determined that Faith's training in this particular mode of combat was woefully inadequate, and so he and Xander had become determined to redress that as soon as possible. Thus, to that end, man and girl were currently hacking away at each other with their practice blades.

"No, no, Faith – you need to keep your guard up, and watch your feet! A sword fight is all about balance, and-and self-control. Now, let's try it again. Cut, block, slash, thrust, parry..." Giles admonished the Slayer.

Faith winced, as they prepared to go again. "I suck at this, don't I, G?"

"Hardly," Rupert said, as Faith executed the routine. Then when it was over, he added, "Against a relatively unskilled opponent, I'd say you would have no trouble taking them down. However, there are relatively few amateur swordsmen in this day and age, and any enemy using this sort of weapon is almost certain to be an expert with it. Thus, you need to practice as much as possible; not only with a sword, but all other bladed weapons as well. In fact, you should ask Buffy what it was like when she had to fight against Angelus this way last year..."

Faith noticed the almost-invisible twitch above the British guy's right eye when he mentioned the Acathla incident, and made a mental note to speak to Xander about it. ( _Betcha he could tell me some stories..._ )

But at that moment, Cordelia Chase came in and spied both her and Giles. "Don't let me interrupt – no, wait, on second thought, forget that. Giles, I need a book!" she demanded.

The librarian stopped sparring with Faith and put the sword on the table, as he sighed and went over to the brunette. "What exactly did you need?"

"Psych class next week, that textbook on Freud and Jung?"

While Rupert went off to the shelves to see what he could find, Faith leered at Cordelia. "Heard that Scott Hope guy's been trying to spread rumors about you again. What is it about your ex's, I wonder?"

Cordelia just sent her an ice-cold stare as she waited for Giles to come back, not deigning to say anything. Suddenly though Faith decided to take action, and ignoring Cordy's protests dragged her off into the stacks.

"Come on, Queen C. Let's settle this, once and for all-"

"Is that a challenge to throw down? Oh yeah, like that's gonna be fun for me, what with your unfair Slayer advantage!" Cordy snapped.

Faith tried to keep a tight rein on her admittedly short temper. "You have been ridin' my ass for nearly three months, and I've had enough – okay? Thing is – I figured out why you've been doin' it too, a long time ago. So come on, Cordelia. I know what you wanna ask me, it's been burning a hole in your gut long enough. Hell, I even swear to tell ya the truth, the whole and nothing but! So ask away..."

Ms. Chase suddenly felt nervous, not having expected this. So Cordy just stammered out, "Okay, then. Are...are you now, or have you ever been, having sex with Xander?"

"No."

The single one-word reply shocked the cheerleader. "Wha...that's it? Just, no? Come on, you gotta give me more than that! You've been living with the big jerk for months – and not ONCE did anything happen?"

Faith blew out an exasperated breath of air, suddenly regretting her decision to be so confrontational about this. "All right, look. If I tell you what you wanna hear – it's gotta stay strictly between us, okay? X has been buggin' me to start trusting you guys more, so...for him, I'm willing to give it a shot..."

Cordelia stared her right in the eye. "I give you my word. Anything you tell me about Xander remains confidential."

A sigh. "Okay, then...last month, on Buffy's birthday. We were at that boarding-house, ya know, and tag-teamed that bloodsucker together? Got me all worked up, and after we went home...I show up in his bedroom, wearing nothin' but my birthday suit..."

"So, what happened?" Cordelia asked, her heart sinking in horror.

"Well, he knew what I wanted, that was pretty obvious. But that night, the guy just throws a pillow at me and says not to embarrass my ass like that again!" Faith said, annoyed. "I swear, really pissed me right off!"

Cordelia didn't get it, even though she also felt very relieved. "What? Is he gay now?"

"Doubt it, from the way those copies of 'Maxim' keep showing up every month or so," the brunette Slayer responded with a sigh. "Much as I hate to admit it...he's just a friend, C. Crazy as, but I'd say he's also the first real male friend that I've ever had. And maybe..."

"Maybe what?" the other brunette asked.

"Maybe it's better that we didn't end up doin' the beast with two backs, ya know? I tend to attract losers, and if I'd slept with him...I dunno, I mighta lost all respect for the X-man, maybe. At least this way, I know I got someone to watch my back, until the end of the school year-"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cordelia demanded at once.

Faith suddenly looked like she had just sucked on a lemon. "Don't ask, okay? I shouldn't have let it slip. That's private stuff-"

"Cordelia? Where the devil are you?" Giles' voice was suddenly heard from the main area of the library.

The two girls headed back towards the middle-aged Englishman, and just as he handed her the book, a young, somewhat foppish-looking British male in a tailored suit entered the library. "Excuse me, is there a Mr. Giles present?"

"That's me. Who are you?" Giles responded.

"Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I'm your replacement from London, old chap! And I'm here to kick bottom, I believe is the colonial idiom," Wes eagerly came forward and offered his hand.

Giles reluctantly shook it. Faith took one look at him and said, "New Watcher?"

"Well, yes-" Pryce started to say.

"Screw that! G, I'm gonna go run some laps," the dark-haired Slayer snorted in contempt before heading out of the library.

Wesley appeared a bit lost, as well as less enthusiastic. "I'm sorry, that was..."

"Faith, the Slayer. One of the two girls you're here to look after, assuming that you are who you say you are," Giles explained in annoyance.

Cordelia was far more impressed with the new arrival, though. "Check out Giles: The Next Generation! You know, I like a man with two last names. I'm Cordelia Chase," she offered her hand, and Wesley kissed it like a gentleman.

"It's an honor and a pleasure. And you teach psychology?" he asked, spying the book.

Cordelia smiled. "I take psychology."

"She's a student here," Giles said with a frown.

Wesley immediately dropped her hand, and scolded himself for hitting on a schoolgirl that way. He quickly turned to his compatriot to hide his embarrassment, "Er, I assume you'll be wanting to check my credentials with the Council, given what happened with Mrs. Post last year? Bad show, how you were all taken in that way," Wesley then said somewhat pompously.

"Of course." Giles took his papers, and went off to make a phone call – all but seething by now.

"You have the greatest voice. Have you ever thought about doing books on tape?" Cordelia started to flirt with the younger Briton.

But just at that moment, Xander burst into the library. "Giles, I gotta talk to you-"

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Wesley interrupted at once, worried about the security implications – now that he had established himself as being in charge.

Harris took one look at him, and collapsed to the floor – as one of the most intense memory flashbacks he had ever experienced hit him without warning.

( _Paris is not Tam Quan, Delta. We work for different employers now._ )

( _In a few days I'll be back in Asia, following the franc, or the dollar, or the yen. We Medusans were always resourceful, weren't we?_ )

( _Can you imagine? You. Delta! The man filled with contempt for so much, not the least of which was for most things American._ )

( _Philippe d'Anjou..._ )

Xander slowly came out of it, and as he opened his eyes, he saw the terrified features of Cordelia Chase staring down at him. "Are you okay? Are you all right?" his ex asked insistently, suddenly reminded of that night when Harris had pulled a gun on her. Even though the fears that he would accidentally shoot her had been greatly diminished, ever since last year; enough months had passed, and that was just the type of girl she was.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harris replied, as he shook off Cordelia's hands in annoyance and got up. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid you fainted," Wesley said with some concern, as he removed his spectacles. "Do you suffer from dizzy spells, young man?"

"Xander, you-you were muttering something in French, and some Oriental language that I-I think was Mandarin, or some sort of derivative. I couldn't quite catch any of it, but I'm sure I heard you mention the word 'Medusa'-" Giles went on.

"Yes, I was unable to understand the dialect either. And does that term refer to the mythological creature with the head of a woman and the body of a snake?" Wesley asked curiously.

"No," Xander replied slowly, as he stared at the newcomer. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, of the Watchers Council," the man introduced himself again, correctly assuming that this was another of Mr. Giles's protégés. "Pleasure to meet you."

Inside Xander's brain, a number of thoughts made various connections. Even though the Englishman before him looked so wet behind the ears that he almost reminded the male teen of an infant – there was a definite potential there that Harris could see, something that reminded him of the canny Frenchman that had joined Medusa and survived the war – where so many others hadn't.

"Xander Harris, of Sunnydale High. And likewise," Xander said simply in reply to the greeting, struggling to banish the scraps of a time that did not exist. Then he said to Giles, "Rupert, I wanted to show you this..." The teenager shoved the piece of paper he had brought with him into the older man's hands.

"What am I looking at?" Giles squinted downwards.

"I did some investigating, and apparently the number of sewer access points in this town is incredibly high. They completely cover the tunnel system in place here; water, gas, electricity maintenance, and whatever else Sunnydale has. And I learned just how big all those tunnels are; the vamps can use the sewers as their own private roadway, almost. Very convenient for them, wouldn't you say?"

"Ah. That sounds interesting-" Wesley tried to assert what he thought were his natural leadership skills, but he didn't get very far.

"Hang on, what are you saying?" Cordelia asked Xander, somehow having gotten over her annoyance at how rude to her he'd just been.

"The tunnel/manhole system is very old, Cor, I looked it up. And it's almost as if...as if it was designed to be easily accessible and useable, for the fang faces."

"Oh, please! That's crazy, Xander, Sunnydale's a hundred years old in about three months. What, you're saying someone built it to be vampire-friendly?" the brunette girl said in exasperation.

"I dunno what I'm saying...yet. I've got a bit more digging to do." Xander glanced at his watch. "So, Wesley. Can I borrow your car for an hour or so, if you've got one? I'd ask Giles, but with his car it'd be faster to walk! I'll have it back by this afternoon, I swear..."

Giles looked annoyed. Cordelia frowned over why Harris hadn't asked her, even though she knew perfectly well why she shouldn't ever lend her car to him again, while Pryce just looked uncertain. "Well, I-I don't know..."

Xander shrugged. "Right, sorry, I mean – we just met, and all. Ah, you want to come with me? I want to talk some people, and it might do you good to get to know the players in town as soon as possible. If you're gonna be the new Watcher on campus and all."

Wesley stepped back, still not sure what to say. This certainly wasn't the way he'd planned to establish himself as the leader around here. "Actually, I thought I should catch up on Mr. Giles's diaries first – and I haven't even met Miss Summers yet-"

"Oh, there'll be plenty of time for that later. This might be more important." Harris clapped a hand on Wesley's shoulder, to his amazement and Cordelia's annoyance. "Think of it as your shot as establishing yourself in Sunnydale! To get the lay of the land and let the demons know that there's a new sheriff in town – so to speak..."

Soon enough Wesley was convinced, and as the two males left Cordelia noticed Giles hiding a smirk. "What?" she demanded.

"You've got to hand it to him; Xander knew exactly what buttons to push with that great ruddy pillock! And odds are that twerp's not going to come back here with his manhood intact..." the former Watcher headed towards his office, trying not to laugh.

Cordelia just left without a word, not thinking that it was funny at all. And a moment later Buffy came in, to report on last night's patrol.

But since Wesley wasn't there, Giles and his surrogate daughter didn't figure out until far too late that the vampires she and Faith had encountered the previous evening were El Eliminati, acolytes of the demon named Balthazar. And who were, in fact, looking for his amulet, which was buried within the Gleaves family crypt in one of Sunnydale's cemeteries, to restore their crippled leader to full strength.

And thus, those particular undead would have unrestricted access to it tonight...

**

* * *

**

Outside Willy's Bar, Sunnydale. A while later

As the car pulled over, Wesley got out and stared at the sign on the wall. "What is this place?"

"Demon bar. I figure the local snitch – his name's Willy – might be able to save me some time, for the right amount of cash. Oh – you brought your wallet, didn't you?"

"Er, yes..."

But after Wesley followed Xander into the establishment, he froze in horror. ( _Good God, is that a Polgara demon...? And I'm sure I'm not mistaken, that's a M'Fashnik mercenary! What the devil is going on here? Why haven't the Slayers shut this place down?_ )

While Xander talked to Willy, the Watcher looked around in fear and consternation. Some of the vampires didn't like his stares and started making tracks in his direction – when Harris grabbed Pryce's arm, and quickly yanked him outside into the safety of the daylight.

"Mr. Harris – Xander – I, I must protest! That establishment is-"

"A necessary evil," Xander interrupted the tirade. "Because sometimes we need information fast. Like last week, we had the apocalypse scheduled when the Sisterhood of Jhe tried to open the Hellmouth? Willy helped provide what we needed to know, even though those demon babes almost killed the guy..."

As they headed to the car, Harris continued, "And think about it, Wes. Even if Buffy and Faith burned the place down, preferably with as many vamps and demons in it as possible, Willy or some other snitch would just set up shop somewhere else in town. It's like, why bother? And I'm sure you've heard that old saying, 'better the devil you know'..."

"A necessary evil," Wesley muttered. It was hard for him to accept, being a man whose experience with the demon world – so far – was limited to encountering two vampires under 'controlled' conditions.

"Yeah. Well, anyway, Willy was too afraid to open up with all those demons present – I could tell. So I say we swing by and talk to someone else, who might be able to give us some insight on the whole sewer setup thing," Xander said as they got into the vehicle.

"Who?"

**

* * *

**

Crawford Street, Sunnydale. Twenty minutes later

Again Wes and Xander got out of the car, after the automobile stopped in front of what looked to be an abandoned residence. "Your source lives here?" the Watcher asked with a frown, looking at the place.

"In a manner of speaking," Harris replied with quirked lips. "Look Wes, you're about to meet someone very important to Buffy, okay? So best behaviour and all that, since you're supposed to be her Watcher now."

They went in through the front door of the manor and Xander called out, "Angel, you home? You got visitors!"

"I say, this isn't terribly polite. Shouldn't we have knocked?" Pryce had to ask, feeling embarrassed.

"He might have been sleeping-"

And right on cue, the vampire with a soul came out of his bedroom, with a frown in his face. "Xander, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Yeah, but I'm between classes and I wanted to pay you a visit. What's your take on the sewer system around here?"

Ignoring Xander's companion for now, Angel shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"I've come up with a theory...that Sunnydale was built from scratch to have certain advantages. For its nonhuman citizens, that is. I mean, the sewers are almost like an underground highway for you guys, right? Just how easy is it to travel all around town down there, during the day?"

The vamp frowned. "Hmmm...now that you mention it? Very easy. Maybe a bit TOO easy...and some of those tunnels are very old, you may be right..." Then Angel straightened up. "So who's your friend?"

"Angel, this is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, the new Watcher for Buffy and Faith. Wesley, this is Angel, Buffy's beau."

Then Xander got an evil smirk on his face as Wes stepped forward to shake hands, "You might know him better as Angelus, the former Scourge of Europe."

The sudden look of complete terror and apprehension on the young Watcher's face had to be seen to be believed, as he stopped mid-stride. Angel just glanced in annoyance at the teenager, "Was that really necessary?"

Xander shrugged. "Better to just get it over with, I thought. Sink or swim..." He looked at his watch and said, "I gotta motor, or else I'll be late for class again. Look Wes, you and Angel talk, okay? Get to know each other. Deadboy can give you a lift back to the school when it's dark-"

"What? You're leaving me here? A-as well as taking my car?" Wes squeaked in fear, as he whirled around.

"You can relax, he can drive and I won't bite. Faith would instantly kill me if I did," Angel said dismissively. Then as soon as Xander left the vampire added, "Would you like a drink?"

"Uh, uh, yes," Wesley stammered, and then he tried to stand up for himself. "Er, Angelus-"

"It's Angel now," the vampire replied flatly, as he headed for the liquor cabinet.

"Um, yes, yes, so Xander said," the Council representative hated the fact that he couldn't quite get himself under control. "Uh..."

"Irish whiskey?" Angel called out, as he got two glasses.

"That will be fine," Wesley replied, finally getting a grip. "So. You and Miss Summers...?"

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Not long after sunset

Giles and the rest of the Scooby gang were all present, apart from Wesley, Angel and Buffy. And they were listening avidly, as Xander explained his findings.

"Thing is, something kept bugging me," Harris said to the group. "Like there was something simple that I was missing."

"Like what?" Daniel 'Oz' Osborne asked, in his trademark monosyllable way.

"Well, you know what town planning committees are like; left to their own devices, there's no way the present sewer system in place today would have ever evolved on its own. So there had to be some sort of...guiding influence."

"Meaning?" Cordelia asked this time.

"Someone or something arranging for events to happen in a certain way, behind the scenes. So, basically – I decided to go back to the beginning to try to find it. History books, local legends, that sort of thing..." Xander then pulled out a black and white picture of a man in an old-fashioned suit from the previous century, with long sideburns. "I found this. Meet Mayor Richard Wilkins I, circa 1898."

"Mind if I ask where this is goin'?" Faith looked confused.

"Yeah, just bear with me..." Harris then produced another photograph; one that was obviously taken in the 1950's from the style of clothing. "His so-called son, Mayor Richard Wilkins II; this was shot during 1956..."

Then he produced a final photograph, this one in colour, of the Mayor standing with a group of Cub Scouts. "Mayor Richard Wilkins III. This photo was taken just last year. And all three of them, you'll notice, are dead ringers for one another...?"

"So there's a big family resemblance, so what?" Willow asked.

Giles was quicker on the uptake than the others, though. "No...Xander, what you're proposing if I've understood you correctly, is that this 'guiding influence' that you referred to earlier is actually the Mayor of this town. Who is in fact the same man who helped build Sunnydale 100 years ago?"

"But that's impossible! Isn't it?" Ms. Chase demanded with a frown on her classically beautiful features.

"Not in this town. And, it would explain an awful lot," Xander said grimly. "Like why all the cops around here don't really do their jobs. And for those of you who were born on the Hellmouth, think about it...when was the last time we had a new mayor around here? I mean, when exactly DID Wilkins III take office? When Richard II 'retired'? And when exactly was that?"

The teenagers, apart from Faith, looked at each other in consternation. "How come none of this has ever occurred to any of us before?" Willow wanted to know.

"Could be any number of reasons, Will. Magic, bureaucracy, us being too busy trying to deal with whatever end-of-the-world crisis was happening at the time to notice otherwise...still, as far as I'm concerned, though, that doesn't really matter. What DOES matter is that Richard Wilkins is someone we really need to further investigate-"

At that point Angel and Wesley walked into the library as the doors swung open, and to the great surprise of everyone else present – the two appeared to be in the middle of some sort of intense argument...

"Wesley, you're wrong. I'm telling you, that's the not the way it happened!" Angel was looking annoyed.

"But the Watcher diaries are very clear on that point! The Master was in France during 1760, and he killed the Slayer of that time-" the Englishman insisted.

"Look, I don't know WHO wrote that garbage way back when, but I'm telling you for the last time – the Master spent 1760 in the sewers of London, in England! I know – because I was there, I saw him and I spoke to him! Darla introduced me to the guy, and he kicked my ass at our very first meeting – so it's not exactly something I'm ever likely to forget!"

"Excuse me? Hello?" Willow interrupted. "Uh, who are you?" she asked Wesley in confusion.

But the new guy didn't have the chance to reply, as Buffy tore into the library right then. "GILES! We have a situation-" Then she spied Wes and also asked, "Who are you?"

"New Watcher," Faith said sardonically, summarizing it as quickly as possible.

Buffy ignored that. "I was just at Willy's. He said the whole town's buzzing about some demon named Balthazar, that he's gonna start raising some heck now that he's got some amulet doohickey back!"

Wesley was confused. "Balthazar? But he was killed 100 years ago-"

Ms. Summers snapped impatiently, "Well, tell that to all the people he's supposedly gonna kill now if we don't stop him!"

The team swung into gear like a well-oiled machine, heading for the weapons stash. And Faith remarked with deep anticipation, "Good thing I got in all that sword practice lately..."

Pryce, the outsider, upon spying all the activity suddenly demanded, "Now hang on a moment, everyone just STOP! We need a plan, and as the leader here, I think-"

Giles just said roughly, "Shut it and grab a weapon, you sanctimonious young twit! We're about to head into a war zone!"

Wesley looked hesitant for a moment, and then noticed Xander looking at him. The male Scooby went up to the guy and said, "You any good with a gun?"

The Watcher replied with a bit too much pride, "Best shot in my class, at the Watchers academy!"

Xander gave him his spare pistol, as well as a stake. "Consider this your own little baptism of fire, Watcher man. Now stick close to me, and shoot and stake anything with yellow eyes and a bumpy forehead apart from Angel. Okay?"

Wesley simply nodded, as he followed the gang out to the parking lot and the various vehicles present there – which would take them to the address Buffy had on where Balthazar supposedly was hiding.

**

* * *

**

Balthazar's warehouse, Sunnydale. A little while after midnight

The evil demon in question lay dying in a pool of water after being electrocuted, and the savage battle with El Eliminati was over. Luckily, there had been no fatalities on the side of the good guys, and only a few injuries sustained by them. Still, some of the wounded needed to be taken care of immediately at the hospital.

"You...you, the Slayers," Balthazar wheezed out. "You think you've won, by killing me. But when he rises...you'll wish I'd killed you, and all your friends..."

Buffy and Faith stared at each other, as did Wesley and Angel. Willow was in Oz's arms, and Giles was caring for Cordelia...

Then Balthazar died, surrounded by the dust that had once been his vampire minions.

Off to the side by himself, Xander just stared at the demon's corpse, feeling a very great sense of worry and trepidation...

**

* * *

**

City Hall, Sunnydale. The next night

In Mayor Wilkins' office, over 100 years of planning and sacrifice was about to enter the home stretch for its upcoming reward.

Wilkins was kneeling within an inverted pentagram, with his hands out to his sides. Five candles were burning, positioned at each point of the inscribed pattern, as the time for the Dedication approached.

At the perfect moment the demon worshipper recited a spell in Latin, "Potestatem matris nostrae, in tenebris invoco. Maledictum filium tuum abomni periculo custodias nunc et in saecula!" (Our mother of darkness, I summon thee. Curse now your dangerous accursed son and protect him into the new age!)

The building began to shake even though Richard remained perfectly still, his eyes closed, and he just moved along with the quake. Both witnesses and members of Wilkins' inner circle – the Deputy Mayor Allan Finch, and the vampire Mr. Trick – looked around nervously, as did the last Eliminatus who hadn't been at the warehouse the previous night; a prisoner of war, locked up in a cage.

When it was over, the Mayor opened his eyes and stood up. "It's done," he said, referring to the ritual supposed to make him invulnerable to harm.

Trick had to ask. "Did it work?"

Wilkins looked pretty happy for someone who had sold his soul long ago. "Let's find out. Open the cage."

Finch gasped, "Are you sure, sir?"

"Ye- oh, one moment!" Wilkins slid a sword along the ground to the bloodsucker. "Now, go ahead."

Shrugging, Trick opened the door. Instantly the uniformed vampire rushed out, heading straight for the Mayor. He raised his sword high and brought it down hard on his target's head, slicing it in two.

Amazingly though, the two halves of Wilkins' cranium simply just pulled towards one another, and sealed themselves back together seamlessly without any blood splattered anywhere. The enemy vamp couldn't believe what he was seeing, as Richard became whole and hale once more...

Mr. Trick then stepped forward and just casually staked the vampire soldier in the back, now that he had served his purpose.

"Well! This officially commences the Hundred Days. Nothing can harm me until the Ascension," Richard said, as he smiled widely and laughed, and literally ticked off 'Become Invincible' on his to-do list. "Gosh, I'm feeling chipper! Who's for a root beer?"

Wilkins led the way out of the office as Trick smiled and quickly followed him. Allan looked worried though as he brought up the rear, and he was inwardly cursing the fact that he hadn't been able to find the Slayers before now – in order to have prevented this from ever happening...

To Be Continued In Part 5


	5. Enemies And Friends

See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. As always, thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story. As for the question regarding romantic relationships, like a number of people have asked? Sorry, but my lips are sealed for the time being; you'll just have to wait and see. Uh, if that sounds too Whedon-esque, my most humble apologies.

**

* * *

**

Part V: Enemies And Friends

**English-style pub, Sunnydale. March, 1999**

Rupert Giles entered the establishment that he, Spike and Ethan would have patronised one day, and looked around for his...prey, for want of a better word.

It had been a fairly quiet month up until now. The investigation into the Mayor hadn't gotten very far, apart from a few pet theories; he and Wesley had suspected that the man in question was using some sort of longevity spell, but as for what kind it was – unfortunately, they had no idea.

Apart from that, Willow had tried to hack into the Mayor's personal files, but found nothing. And as for the rest of it, well, it had just been pretty much the usual for the Scoobies: school, homework, the Bronze, demon and vampire Slayage, but thankfully no apocalypses to deal with.

Finally Giles saw the man he was after, and went over to the booth. "I was wondering how long it would take you to find this place. Mind if I sit down?"

Wyndam-Pryce looked up from the papers he was reading, and gestured. "Please, be my guest..." And as the older Englishman sat down, Wesley got a quizzical expression on his face. "Is this a business or a social call?"

"A little of both," Giles replied, marvelling for a moment at how less officious and arrogant his companion had become after a month or so in Xander's company. He called the waitress over, "I'll have a draught beer, please. What's your pleasure?" he asked of Wes.

"A pint of Guinness, thank you," Pryce said politely.

After the waitress left, Giles stared curiously at Wesley. "I must admit, I never figured you as the Guinness type..."

"It's something I've acquired the taste for over the past few weeks or so," Wyndam-Pryce shrugged, going back to his papers.

Rupert suddenly felt a bit awkward. "Well. You seem to have finally settled in here at Sunnydale, at any rate-"

Wesley suddenly looked up. "That I have. But still – you don't like me very much, do you, Mr. Giles? If at all..."

A bit startled by the candour, Giles replied without thinking, "If we're going to be honest, no, not really. I mean, when you first arrived here, I thought you were a complete inexperienced prat."

Oddly, Wesley seemed to just take that in stride. "And now?"

"You're not quite as inexperienced, but you're still a complete prat."

The younger man thought about it. "Hmmm. I don't know about the prat thing, but I might agree with you now about my level of experience..."

This instantly got Giles completely flummoxed. "What?"

Wesley sighed and leaned back, as the waitress arrived with their beers. After thanking the woman and taking a sip, the two men resumed their conversation, "What I mean is, from the moment I arrived here the entire situation appeared completely bloody mad to me," Wes tried to explain.

"Becoming the Watcher to the Slayer – or Slayers, now that there are two of them in this world at the same time – I never anticipated it would be like...this. I mean, I hadn't expected such overt hostility from Miss Summers to my presence, for a start! In fact, it was rather lucky that Mr. Harris suggested that I assign her to you, to continue your duties with her in an unofficial capacity...or, quite honestly, I don't think she would listen to a single word I say!"

"Yes, well, Buffy is a...wilful girl. You have to get to know her," Giles smirked into his beer.

"It's been made rather abundantly clear to me that she'd prefer otherwise. And Miss LeHane is no different in any fundamental way. I'll freely admit, I don't understand it...I've followed the handbook precisely, on how to handle one's Slayer..."

Giles sighed. "Wesley, I'm going to give you a piece of advice; whether you heed it or not is up to you. But just as the Slayer handbook is useless in Buffy's case, so is the Watcher one; the powers that be obviously broke the mould, after they made her who and what she is. I'd say no other Slayer is like my former charge, in all of recorded history! And Faith is unique as well, in her own way. Attempting to isolate them from the rest of society, their family and friends, as the handbook dictates and giving them orders as if they're mindless robots...it simply doesn't work, they just ignore you when you try to do that!"

"You bring up an interesting point; namely, Miss Summers's companions in this fight," Wesley replied, after appearing to contemplate that piece of wisdom. "A witch, a werewolf, and a vampire boyfriend. Rather unusual, to say the least."

"They've all helped me keep her alive in the past, well – apart from Angel, during that nasty time when Angelus was running amok here in town," Giles said carefully. "And I couldn't help noticing you left some people out, just now?"

Wyndam-Pryce nodded, and then briefly blushed. "Miss Chase is quite the beautiful young woman..."

Giles groaned, "Wesley, please – tell me that you've not let yourself become infatuated with that girl, of all people?"

The other man was silent for a moment, then decided not to mention how he'd kissed Cordy the other day; and how it had been the most embarrassing moment of his life thus far. What with the way they'd kept bumping each other's noses, and their lips couldn't seem to attach right...so in a nutshell, Cordelia had said they would never be doing that again.

"Let's just say she's definitely no longer interested in me," the guy finally admitted, his face going red.

Rupert just snickered, "Well, it's probably all for the best. As apart from the age difference, I rather suspect that her heart still belongs to another."

"Who?" the official Watcher wanted to know.

"Xander, as matter of fact."

Wesley started at hearing that. "But, but Mr. Harris has never once mentioned-"

"Well, they had a rather nasty breakup last year, from what I'm told. I don't know details – thing is, I prefer not to probe too deeply into the personal love lives of teenage Americans," Giles said, shaking his head a bit.

"Very wise of you..." Wesley started to say. "But Xander Harris, you know...to paraphrase Winston Churchill's speech in 1939, he's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Of all the students I've run into at that school whilst acting as the assistant librarian, he must be the only male specimen not completely obsessed with status and appearances, and lusting after the local crumpet. It's got me rather stumped, I have to say..."

"You should ask him about it," Giles made a decision, after a brief rush of homesickness at hearing the English slang. "Get Xander to tell you about Jason Bourne-"

"The character from Robert Ludlum's novel?" Wesley interrupted. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"The boy will explain it, if he cares to. And then you'll understand – not only why he acts the way he does, but most likely also why Xander seems to have taken you under his wing, almost."

Wesley just shrugged and nodded, as the two British men clicked their glasses together in salute before having another drink.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale, California. A few days later

Buffy and Angel came out of the movie house along with the other couples, looking a bit stunned. "Well..." the blonde Slayer said slowly.

"Well," Angel replied, looking uncomfortable.

"That was very...artistic," the Chosen One tried to find the right word to describe the semi-porno movie they had just witnessed viewing.

"Yeah," her boyfriend replied simply.

"Wasn't what I expected. I've never actually seen...well, from the title I thought it would be about food," Buffy said, trying to calm down a little.

Angel said helpfully, "Well, there was food..."

Buffy nodded, "Right. The, the scene with the, the food. So, feel like getting some hot chocolate? Or maybe a cold shower?"

The vampire sighed, "I'm sorry, I wanted to take you out somewhere fun. It's been a long time since I've been to the movies...and, uh, they've apparently changed a lot..."

The Slayer said, "Which is a little scary. And a little not, which is also scary. I'm sorry. I just, I don't want for you to get all worked up from seeing stuff like that. On account of we can't actually...do any of those things. You'd lose your soul. Besides, I-"

But whatever she wanted to add to that was stillborn, as the very angry voice of Cordelia Chase could suddenly be heard in the background. "Get your paws off of me, you creep!"

The basketball player known as Percy West replied angrily, "Oh, come on, Cordelia! You want me to take you out to the movies, then you-you get me all wound up from choosing a film like that...and then out of the blue, you say you're just not in the mood? Give me a break!"

"There a problem here?" Buffy and Angel saw Faith casually stroll over to the bickering couple on the street and speak to them in that deliciously throaty accent.

Percy just glanced at her. "No problem – so just move it along, okay? This is private stuff-"

"You discussing it in public like this, doesn't seem too private to me," Faith observed with a grin, obviously anticipating a fight.

"It's okay, Faith," Cordelia replied. "My EX-boyfriend and I were just leaving!"

Percy looked at her in shock. "What the fuck-?"

"Shouldn't cuss like that in front of a lady, West," the dark-clad form of Xander Harris seemed to appear out of nowhere at Faith's side. "And in case you didn't notice, there are two ladies present. So apologize to 'em right now. If you know what's good for you."

Percy West backed off in fear straightaway, the rumors about Xander having become some sort of psychopath having reached legendary proportions by now. "Sure, no problem, Harris. I'm, I'm sorry, Cordy. And, and you too, Miss. Uh, have a nice evening..." the boy stammered, before turning around and trying not to sprint off in the opposite direction.

"Spoil my fun," Faith said grumpily to her roommate. "And how come they piss their pants at the sight of you, and not me?"

Xander ignored her. "You okay, Cor?" he asked his former girlfriend.

"Sure," Ms. Chase replied, trying to keep in mind that the dark-haired Slayer and her one-time boyfriend were just friends. Which wasn't easy, the way Faith was grinning and attempting to put her arm around the 18-year-old guy – just to get a rise out of her.

"Hey, guys!" Buffy's voice suddenly attracted the threesome's attention.

"Faith, Cordelia. Xander," Angel said as well, in his own trademark way.

"Hey. So, what's up?" Xander wanted to know.

"Movie's over. Giles wants Faith and me to head on over to Mercer, patrol the cemetery near there," Buffy replied.

"I'm planning to check out a lead on what the Mayor may be up to," Angel let the others in on his plans.

"Well, I'm going home. I've got studying to do," Cordelia said emphatically. Then she glanced at Xander, "You, uh, want to come? Y'know, walk me home?"

Xander didn't appear to see the other girls rolling their eyes at this. "Why not? This is Sunnydale, after all..."

And so, after the gang split up, a number of things came to pass; the most important of which was a demon meeting with Faith and Buffy, and offering them the Books of Ascension for five thousand dollars the next evening before running off into the darkness.

**

* * *

**

City Hall, Sunnydale. Later that night

Mr. Trick knocked on the door, and then entered the Mayor's office after hearing his exuberant "Come in!" The vampire spied the politician working at his desk and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but I've got some news."

"Ah, news. What is it? And please, let's be quick about this; ever since Allan's fatal little accident, I've found myself just overwhelmed with the little things!" Richard replied without looking up.

"Hey, come on, I did you a favor! That guy was about to spill his guts to the wrong people and all," the soulless vampire said defensively.

"Now, what did I tell you once before about doing me favors?" the Mayor replied, finally putting down the pen and staring at Trick with a smile. "Replacing Allan was chore enough. Please, Mr. Trick – don't make me wonder if I need to shake up the personnel roster anymore than I have to!"

Trick almost shuddered at the inhuman look on Wilkins' face. "Got a tip from Willy, there's a demon in town with the Books of Ascension. Or he'll have them soon, at any rate. I assume you'll be wanting me to find him and take care of the problem?"

"Well, now. How'd someone get their hands on a set of those? Far as I knew, there were only two copies, and they were both under heavy guard in Europe and Latin America," Richard said musingly. Then he looked at his companion and said with another of those satanic smiles, "Go ahead, Mr. Trick; find this demon, kill the heck out of him and bring me the books. Or better yet, simply destroy them..."

As the vampire turned to go, the Honorable Mayor also added, "Oh, and one other thing. If you ever come in here again without first cleaning your fingernails of those awful unsanitary germs, I'll have your guts for a garter belt, understand?"

Trick looked coldly at his employer. ( _Damn crazy bastard,_ ) he thought briefly. "Perfectly, Mr. Mayor."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. The next day

The white hats were in their headquarters, talking about what was going to happen tonight. Angel, Xander and Cordelia weren't there, but everyone else was.

"So, you got the five grand?" Buffy asked her nominal Watcher, as he came out of Giles's private office.

"The Council came through, yes," Wesley replied. "Still, if it's at all possible, I'd like for you and Faith to try to obtain those Books without having to pay for them. No point in encouraging this sort of thing."

"He's right, you know. I mean, demons wanting cash? Whatever happened to the still-beating heart of a virgin? No one has any standards anymore," Giles said with a sigh, as Wes and the teens ignored all that.

"So, Books of Ascension. Uh, anybody know exactly what an Ascension is?" Willow asked.

Wesley frowned, as he shared a glance with Giles. "It's not really a common term in demonology, no..."

Oz looked thoughtful. "Ascension. Rising. That demon last month, Bal...whatever?"

Buffy asked while scrunching up her face, "The big blob who was in thundering need of a Stairmaster?"

"Yeah, him. Guy kinda mentioned something about this...and how we were all gonna die or worse..."

Giles looked thoughtful as well, and hurried into his office to check something out. In the meantime, Faith looked around and asked, "Where's Xan? Ain't he usually at the Scooby meetings?"

"Yeah, uh, that's something else I wanted to discuss – without him being present. Last night, outside the cinema? Faith, was it just me, or did Xander look like he was wanting to do SERIOUS bodily harm to Percy West?" the older Slayer wanted to know.

Faith chortled, "Well, so what if he did? That wimp was a louse. And hell, B, did you see the look on Cordelia's face when X butted in like that?"

Buffy reluctantly nodded. "Reminded me of the, uh, Speedo incident – when Xander went undercover on the swim team, last year-"

"Wasn't here for that, too bad. But hey, you should see him naked! Accidentally got a glimpse once, when he came out of the shower...I tell you, the size of his package..." Faith laughed gleefully at the expressions of Buffy and Willow, as the redhead let out a small 'eep!' noise and hid her face on Oz's shoulder.

"Found it," Giles came back out of the office, and noticed everyone's expressions. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"I understand now what you meant that night, about that reference to the personal love lives of teenage Americans," Wesley answered him, a somewhat ill look on his face as he polished his glasses.

Giles wisely just let that go. "The Marenschadt Text, yes...the section on genocide; it mentions what we're after. There's a reference here to the journal of Desmond Kane, pastor of a town called Sharpsville. 'May 26, 1723. Tomorrow is the Ascension. God help us all.' It was the last anyone heard."

Wesley looked curious. "Of Kane?"

Giles replied, "Of Sharpsville. The entire town more-or-less disappeared."

There was a grim silence at that, until Oz said plainly, "We need those books."

Wesley nodded. "I agree wholeheartedly."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale, California. Later that night

The time for the exchange had come, and Buffy and Faith had arrived at the meeting place the demon had told them about the previous evening. "Think he'll show?" Faith asked the more senior Slayer, hefting her new sword.

Buffy held a crossbow, along with the money. "I hope so."

"Hey, even if he doesn't, we'll track him down somehow..." the East Coast native seemed restless and fidgeting.

The blonde looked towards the brunette. "Faith? I think we know each other well enough by now to tell whenever something's wrong. So, what's the deal?"

Faith just shrugged, "I still don't agree with you guys having meetings behind X's back like this. I mean, the dude knows his shit-"

"Faith, trust me, it's for the best! I mean, I've learned to adapt to the new Xander – we all have. Like he said to me once, he can do more now than what he could have, before Ethan did that mojo on him! But...Xander can be way ruthless nowadays too, a lot more than he has to be. Like last week, he almost shot Willy! I don't want him to start killing people, or whatever...so with this Ascension thing, it's best if we keep it kinda low-key for now."

The junior Chosen One shrugged again, still thinking that was a mistake. And deciding never to mention how she and Xander occasionally mugged a vampire or three, in order to cover the rent. Then she stiffened, "Company's coming."

Sure enough, the demon showed up out of the shadows a moment later, a large suitcase in his hand. "You got the money?" he demanded.

"You got the Books?" Buffy asked in the same tone.

"Right here. And believe you me, damn things weigh a ton! Now show me the money," the creature barked out.

"Mind telling me why we shouldn't just kill the evil demon and take 'em for ourselves?" Faith asked, with a flinty look in her eyes.

"Because I'm not evil! And if you try that, you got nothing! Suitcase is enchanted, sister; try to open it without the right incantation first, and the Books go up in flames," the demon guy shot back.

Buffy groaned, "No wonder I like 'em nice and stupid...fine, we've got your money right here-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Mr. Trick's voice made them all turn around. "But my employer would like for me to make a bid for this here fine merchandise. I assume that I'm not too late to make an offer for them?"

"Maybe. You got the money right here as well, though? 'Cause I'm leaving town tonight," the demon replied.

"You can't deal with him! He's a vampire!" Buffy shouted in annoyance, as Faith lifted her sword and glared at the former lackey of her nemesis named Kakistos.

"Hey, if his money is as green as yours, I don't care if he's a fricking Turok-Han," the information broker snapped irritably. Then his eyes suddenly became considerably wider, "What the hell is this-?"

Instantly, both of the Chosen Two felt their Slayer senses going crazy, as a pack of vampires closed ranks around their leader. "What can I say? I like the General Patton school of thought when it comes to negotiation," Trick smirked. "Negotiate with your finger on the trigger, and your foot on their neck!"

Then he scowled, "What the-"

One of the vamp minions brought a struggling Cordelia Chase to the center stage, his hand clamped around the young woman's mouth to prevent her screaming. "Found her eavesdropping in the trees just now-"

"So, just kill her already! What, do I have to do everything myself around here?" Trick demanded.

"You try it – any of you try to harm her, and you're dust in the wind. You got that, Trick, you spineless little minion?" Faith sneered at him. Then she had an epiphany, "Yeah, I mean first it was Kakistos, and now it's the Mayor – right? Come on, tell me I'm wrong..."

"The Mayor?" the demon asked, growing observably pale. "You work for him?"

"You're one to talk about being spineless, little girl," Trick sneered right back at Faith, ignoring that last bit. "You think I've forgotten the way you turned tail and ran, the night your Watcher died?"

"That was then, this is now," Buffy caught Faith's eye, cautioning her not to give in to the soulless demon's goading. "And you're gonna be ashes soon enough, pal!"

"KILL 'EM ALL!" the Master vampire went into game face, as he shouted to the other dead people.

An assault rifle barked out, and the head of the vampire holding Cordelia exploded – a moment later the rest of the body also turned into dust, which fell to the ground.

The girl screamed as Trick ducked and looked around, and several other minions of his suffered the same fate from a shooter in the trees. "Crap, he must be using some kinda blessed bullets...?" the black guy whispered to himself in confusion.

He suddenly noticed the asshole who'd brought the Books running for it, and remembering his orders the vamp chased after the guy with two horns on his head. Then as he noticed Buffy chasing after HIM, Trick thought to himself, ( _Screw this..._ ) and simply launched a well-aimed knife at his target.

His trajectory was spot-on, and the demon collapsed face-downwards as he stumbled and fell. And just as Trick had anticipated, Buffy stopped and glared at him. "You bastard!"

"Now, now. Just 'cause I'm black, that don't give you the right to make assumptions like that," the evil undead just grinned at her.

"You got one chance here, Trick – tell me what the Mayor's up to so we can kill him easier, and I promise I'll make it quick for you!"

Trick roared with laughter. "You can't kill him, little girl – no one can! Didn't you know that yet? That guy is completely in-vulnerable nowadays! His Honor built this town for demons to feed on, and sixty days from now...he's gettin' paid! And I'll be there then, to feast on your heart..." The vampire then blurred and vanished with incredible speed, leaving behind a very pissed Slayer.

Buffy then ran over to the demon, and to her amazement he was still alive. "Itsabu..." the fence croaked at her, before he finally expired.

Ms. Summers quickly ran back to the others, noticing that the undead numbers had been decimated; Faith had gotten creative with her sword before ditching it aside in favor of her stake. Angel had shown up out of nowhere too, to help lend a hand and protect Cordelia.

"Yo, B! Did ya get him?" Faith yelled, as she finished off the last vampire.

"Demon's dead, Trick got away," Buffy growled. Then she spied the suitcase. "Well, guess the evening wasn't a total loss..."

"You should have told me what you were up to tonight."

The blonde Chosen One almost jumped out of her skin, at hearing Xander's voice in her ear. ( _How'd he get so close without me hearing him?_ ) "Uh, Xander..."

"I'm just saying. Could be if I'd had some more time to set up my sniper's nest, we wouldn't be in the situation that we're currently in now," Xander's chocolate-brown eyes were so dark, they almost looked black in the darkness of the cemetery.

"Xander, I..."

But Buffy was quickly bowled aside by Cordelia, who rushed over and grabbed Xander into a deep and passionate kiss. "You saved me. You were the one who saved my life just now with that rifle, when that vampire was about to kill me!" Then she kissed him again, her tongue trying to force its way past Harris's tonsils.

Faith made some gagging noises even as she smiled, Angel looked away with a slight grin, and even Buffy tried not to smirk at the cheerleader's antics. But finally when she came up for air Xander asked, "What did you think you were doing coming here, Cordelia?"

"Well, duh! Maybe I was worried YOU were gonna do something stupid, and get yourself hurt? Faith told me what was going to happen tonight!" Ms. Chase growled, majorly unhappy over how he hadn't kissed her back.

Xander sighed and gently detached himself from her grasp, ignoring the girl's upset look. "Whatever. What's the sitch with the Books?" he asked Faith.

"Well, we got 'em," the Bostonian indicated the suitcase that Angel was now manhandling, not surprised he'd somehow learned about that part of it. "Only problem is, we don't know the code that'll prevent 'em from getting deep-fried, if we open that case!"

The gunman nodded. "Let's get outta here, for all we know Wilkins will send the cops around just to try and arrest us..."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. A short while after midnight

Buffy and Faith had reported what had happened during the meet to Wesley and Giles, and a little while later Willow and Oz had shown up to join the rest of the Scoobies. Xander hadn't said anything much, but the way he kept stealing glances at the Summers girl...well, the young woman definitely hadn't liked the looks her friend was sending her.

"Looks like he wasn't bluffing; the case is definitely warded with some kind of enchantment. Possibly a variant of a Woodlow transmogriphic spell," Wesley reported, his minor magical talents put to use to diagnose their package.

Giles sighed. "Bloody brilliant. So the incantation could be anything, then?"

"I'm afraid so," Pryce said in distaste. "Well, if anybody's got any ideas, I for one think now's the time to hear them!"

Angel looked to Buffy and Faith. "He didn't say or hint at anything that it might be, during your conversation?"

"No," Buffy said simply.

"Just that if we tried to off him, we'd end up with squat," Ms. LeHane muttered.

"Can't we just open it up, and have a really large fire extinguisher handy?" Cordelia asked. "What? I'm just trying to help!" she stated in annoyance, in response to all their looks.

"I think we need a plan other than that," Willow told her as gently as possible.

"Xander? What do you think?" Oz suddenly asked out of the blue, staring at his friend.

All eyes turned towards him. And at first, he didn't seem to notice...Xander Harris seemed far away, within his own mind...

( _Keep it simple, say as little as possible. Here's a list: eight names. Methods of matching kills? You slipped! Try again. Concentrate! Obliterate everything else. Wipe away the past. You are not Delta, you are not you! You are Cain. You are a man named Bourne. Get Carlos. Trap Carlos. Kill Carlos!_ )

"Xander?" Cordelia hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder.

Harris jerked away, coming back to life and ignoring the startled noise the girl made. "Buffy. You mentioned how that demon tried to say something to you, just before he died?"

"Uh, yeah?" the girl said in confusion.

"This is a long shot, I know...but what did he say, exactly? Could it have been the incantation? I mean, could it possibly be that simple – our demon salesman tried to get the only form of revenge he could on the vamp who killed him?" Xander wondered.

Buffy looked at him, somewhat stunned. "I, uh, I never thought of it like that..."

"Quickly, Buffy, what were the precise words he used?" Giles demanded.

"Itsabu, or something like that," Buffy recalled. "I don't know for sure, he was dying..."

They tried it, but nothing happened. "Well, guess it was kinda too much to hope for that it would be that simple," Faith grumbled.

Suddenly, Xander went over to the suitcase. "It's a book. It's just a book," he said in a loud clear voice.

The suitcase instantly glowed red, and then the light disappeared. Glancing at the others, Xander then took a deep breath and opened the case...and nothing happened, the five Books of Ascension were simply sitting there unharmed. "Whew..."

Instantly, the Research Twins grabbed the mystical tomes and started burying their noses in the dusty old pages. Willow stared at her old crush and asked in wonder, "How did you know...?"

"I didn't, I just sorta guessed. Looks like Demon Boy was a big fan of 'I Dream Of Jeannie'," Xander said simply, as he shook his head.

"You actually watch that TV show?" Cordelia asked acidly, wondering for a moment if Harris liked his women in harem girl outfits. "Come on, Xander, it's gotta be over 30 years old by now! Even the reruns are just-"

"No, it's not that. It's just...I can remember portions of a few episodes here and there when the show was brand new almost, back in the 1970's; even if those memories are just fakes," Xander said, shaking his head again as he turned his mind to other problems.

All four girls then looked at each other, as Harris suddenly remembered something that Buffy had mentioned earlier. He ran into Giles' office and leafed through his daily planner, "Sixty days, sixty days..." The boy then arrived at the appropriate date, and cursed violently.

"What? What is it?" Cordelia demanded, as Harris came out of the office and rejoined the group.

Xander looked at her, and then all the others. "Graduation day. If I'm right, the Mayor's planning to ascend...on the same day we all graduate high school..."

To Be Continued In Part 6


	6. There's Always Choices

See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. Thanks as always to those who have reviewed! Just to warn you all, there are passing references in this chapter to the 1999 events at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado; no offence is meant, and I apologize in advance to anyone that might get upset by this. That being said, however, on with the story...

**

* * *

**

Part VI: There's Always Choices

**City Hall, Sunnydale. Late April, 1999**

Mr. Trick knocked on the Mayor's door, casually inspecting his fingernails before silently cursing himself. ( _This is no good. Almost feels like I'm getting domesticated, by that guy! Maybe I should think of just moving on from Mayberry, already..._ )

Instantly though, the Master vamp banished such thoughts. ( _Forget it; look what happened to that idiot chump Finch, when he tried that route! No, looks like I'm stuck here for the duration. Still, it's not all bad...and let's not forget – I got a promise to keep, to that bitch of a Slayer..._ )

"Come in!" Wilkins called out, interrupting Trick's thoughts.

Schooling his face into a neutral expression, the dark-skinned vampire went in. "You sent for me, Mr. Mayor?"

"Indeed I did, Mr. Trick," Richard got up with the usual friendly smile on his face. It instantly put Trick on his guard, though. "Something's come to my attention that you should know about."

"And that is?" Trick asked calmly, even though on the inside he was a bit worried. For the vamp had lied to the Mayor about how one of his minions had destroyed the Books of Ascension...to cover his own ass, of course.

"A package is arriving tomorrow night from Central America. Something, and I can't stress this enough, something crucially important to my Ascension. Without it...well! What can I say? I would be pretty darn disappointed, let me tell you..."

"And you don't want me to disappoint you," Trick said somewhat cynically, as he relaxed internally over that other matter.

"Golly, of course not! You're my right-hand demon, after all. How you handle things reflects on me, personally." Then Wilkins suddenly looked bored, putting away the happy expression. "Nine o'clock at the airport, Mr. Trick. Don't be late."

The vampire nodded and left the room, his ire simmering a little at the lack of respect and being treated like an office boy; Faith's taunting voice suddenly in his head, calling him a "spineless little minion"...

Making a decision, Trick went to his office and picked up the phone. "Get me Lyle Gorch on the line."

He waited a while then said in a cheerful voice, "Lyle! You old dog, how are you?"

#Fine,# said a Texan accent from the other end of the line. #You?#

"Well, I'm not too bad myself, let me tell you. Sunnydale may not yet be a haven for the bruthas – but it does have its charms, nonetheless, for those not of the Caucasian persuasion. Listen, where are you right now?"

#Tijuana,# Gorch's voice came through the receiver, oddly distorted.

"Well, fine, that's not too far away. Can you be here by tomorrow night? 'Cause I got a job for someone of your talents, and there are lots of dead Presidents involved..."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale. The next day

Cordelia Chase was walking along outside the building, casually ignoring Principal Snyder's antics of looking for drugs amongst the student body. She spied Xander sitting alone up against a tree, reading a book – and, upon recalling the things Faith had told her after reading his mind thanks to that whole telepathic demon incident, approached the male teen carefully.

"Hey," the young woman said neutrally, as she stopped in front of him.

"Hello, Cordelia," Xander said in the same tone, as he looked up from his book.

"What are you reading?"

He held up the volume and said, "'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to Europe'. Fascinating stuff, especially what they write about Paris! Apparently the place's changed a lot, from what Bourne remembers..."

"I guess. Never been there myself," Cordelia admitted casually.

Xander put aside the book, and patted the grass beside him. "Wanna sit down?"

Ms. Chase said indignantly, "And ruin this dress with grass stains? As if!" ( _And it's not like I have the money anymore to buy another one like it...thanks to Daddy's little fun horsing around with his tax returns that way!_ )

Xander got up gracefully and asked, "So. What's on your mind?"

Cordelia gestured towards where Buffy, Faith, Oz and Willow were talking at a nearby table. "How come you're not over there with the others?"

Harris sighed and grabbed her hand; Cordelia almost flinched from the electric feel of his skin upon hers. "Let's take a walk. Unless, you don't want to be seen in public with me?" he asked.

Cordelia snorted, recalling some recent intense arguments with Harmony and the others about that sort of thing. "High school is over in about a month, so what does popularity really mean now? What the hell, I'll risk it!"

"Okay. But...I'm sure you heard about what was reported on the news a few days ago, that high school massacre in Colorado," Xander told her, as she linked arms with him and they started to walk. "And the fact that one of those kids responsible was named 'Harris'? It's sent me more than a few funny looks, lately!"

"Whatever. Now answer my question!" the Chase girl demanded. "Why have you been isolating yourself lately?"

Again, Xander sighed. "I haven't exactly been 'isolating myself', as you put it – Faith still tells me what's going on, on account of we still live together, you know. But the sad fact is...my time in the Scooby Gang is coming to an end."

"What?" the female teen didn't get it.

"I can feel it, Cordy. We've been drifting apart more and more lately. What can I say? Buffy really hates guns, and thanks to recent events – she flat-out demanded that I stop using them. Didn't go down well when I told her that she wasn't the boss of me; and if I didn't know better, I'd swear she's starting to develop a complex about that sort of thing! But anyway, apart from all that, with Oz, Willow and Buffy going off to college and me not-"

"Whoa! Hold on!" Cordelia dragged them both to a stop. "What is this? I thought Faith said you'd applied to a number of places?"

"Yeah, well, I had to make her think that – in order to get her to stop nagging about it," Harris said with a shrug, ignoring her annoyed look. "But getting back on topic, I've been thinking a lot about my future; and I've come to the decision that spending the next four years in a lecture hall taking notes isn't my thing."

The brunette teenager looked a little lost. "So what ARE you going to be doing, assuming we survive the Ascension? Getting a job at the DMV, or the local pizza parlour? Puh-lease. At one time, maybe, but nowadays? I don't think so!"

Xander just smiled slightly, annoying the HELL out of the girl. "Sorry, Cordy. But that's still a secret, for now."

"UGHHHHHHHH!" Cordelia ranted, feeling a familiar rush of anger and passion towards her ex. "You have GOT to be the most annoying guy I've ever met!"

"Well, I'll take that as a compliment," Harris replied, enjoying their verbal sparring as always. "What about you? Where are you going to college?"

Cordelia hesitated. "I-I'm not sure yet. I, I got accepted into USC, Colorado State, Duke, and Columbia..."

"Wow! Those are great colleges," Xander said sincerely, impressed.

"I guess. I mean, I just thought for sure you'd be going to one of these places as well!"

"Sorry," Xander shrugged again. Then he frowned, "You know, I don't remember it myself, but – David Webb was teaching as a professor at some minor New Hampshire university, before he was recruited by Treadstone-71. Nasty time in his life; apparently, according to the book, he was self-destructing by that point. Guess subconsciously, that could be having an impact on why I decided to be Non-College Guy," the boy finished up musingly.

"Right. Well, I better get going," Cordelia said, as she stepped back. "I'll see you around..."

But as she walked away, Harris dropped the calm smile and frowned at her departing back. "What are you trying to hide from me?" he asked himself.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Later that day

Buffy Summers was in the middle of a intense discussion with her Watcher...s, about her own future. "But why shouldn't I be able to leave after I graduate? I mean, Faith will still be here to be Miss Sunnydale in the Slayer pageant, won't she?"

Wesley smirked, "Well, you ARE the more senior Chosen One. I'm sure Faith still has much that she can learn from you, regarding beauty contests..."

Buffy playfully stuck out her tongue at him, something that a few months ago or in another world she would have never done. "Ha-ha. But you know, you can't define me and Faith just by our Slayer-ness. That's...something-ism!"

"Buffy..." Giles started to say.

"I got into Northwestern!" the blonde interrupted, a hopeful look on her face as she turned to face him. "My mom was gushing about it to Aunt Arleen on the phone, earlier."

"That's wonderful news. Good for you," Rupert replied, looking like a proud father.

"Indeed, but be all that as it may, we do still have the Mayor's Ascension to worry about first," Wes pointed out. "We've learned quite a lot in general from studying the Books, but rather little in specifics...other than Mayor Wilkins is planning to turn into a pure demon on Graduation day, into one of the Old Ones themselves..."

Ms. Summers replied, "Yeah, I know. Look, Wesley, I'm aware that my high school graduation may be, amongst other things, posthumous, but...what if we stop the Ascension? It's my life we're talking about!"

"Well, you should keep in mind there are other factors to consider in leaving Sunnydale other than just yourself, you know," Pryce felt he had to point out.

"Like what?" the girl demanded.

"For one thing, I rather suspect the Council will object to your plans to just pack up and move away to a place where, apparently...there are relatively few demons and vampires," the Watcher replied.

"It's not that far from Cleveland!" Buffy shot back, having heard that place was infested with evil demons and the undead.

"True. But at the very least, they'll send another Watcher with you to Illinois...as they still don't know that Mr. Giles is working with you instead of myself," Wesley said plainly. "And I suspect that whoever they send, that person would be far less tolerant of Mr. Giles's presence than I. You do remember what my attitude was like when I first got here, I take it?"

Buffy shuddered at the memory. "Point. But, maybe it won't be like that! I mean..."

"And there is something else, or rather someone else, that you need to keep in mind – if you do choose to leave the Hellmouth," Giles said, as a thought appeared to occur to him.

"What? Who?" asked the Slayer.

"Angel," the British man said simply.

Buffy got a cold feeling at that, as Wesley nodded. "Quite right. Here in Sunnydale, on your home turf so to speak – you're able to dictate terms, or at least somewhat. All alone in a strange place however, assuming that your high school friends won't be there with you...well. Your new Watcher might summon one of the Council's wet works teams to get rid of a vampire problem, once he or she learned the situation, and there might be nothing you could do to keep Angel safe from harm..."

Giles could see his former charge getting upset, and so he tried to be kind and reassuring. "Buffy, we're not trying to make you feel bad; Wesley and I are simply attempting to make you aware of all the facts, before you make your decision. Because, all things considered, it is a vitally important one."

"So, what you're saying is that my life isn't exactly gonna be all roses and white picket fences whatever I do, huh? Even if we stop the Mayor, there's always gonna be something else. I'm a Sunnydale girl, no other choice-"

"Perhaps we could look into finding somewhere else for you to matriculate, as a sort of compromise?" Wesley then said, looking hopeful.

"What do you mean?" Buffy and Giles asked in stereo, and then grinned at one another.

Wyndam-Pryce said slowly, "Well, if you enrolled into UCLA...that might work; Los Angeles is your former hometown, after all. And according to my sources, Angel's lived in the city more than once, so it's not unfamiliar territory for him either. There are millions of people there, along with a large vampire population, so no doubt you would be kept busy as the Slayer in between classes – and he would have an excellent chance of disappearing into the woodwork, if worst comes to worst with the Council. Or...perhaps, because it's only about a two-hour drive, we could persuade them there's no need for another Watcher to be sent? I could say that I'll alternate between staying there and here, to also keep an eye on Faith..."

Buffy's mouth was hanging open in delight. Finally she stammered, "Okay, who are you, and what have you done with the real Wesley? 'Cause that's DIABOLICAL!" She rushed over to give the man a hug, surprising them both. "Wes, how'd you come up with all that?"

The man suddenly hesitated. "Yes, well. The topic of Los Angeles may have come up once or twice, while I was talking to Xander and Faith last night..."

**

* * *

**

City Hall, Sunnydale. Just after sunset

A limousine stopped in front of the building, and a male figure in an unmistakeable Stetson climbed out of the car. ( _Well, now, shee-it. A man could get used to travelling in style like this..._ )

"Lyle Gorch!" Trick's voice rang out, as he came out the front door.

"Well, if ain't the creator of Slayerfest '98 hisself! How ya been, Trick?" the deep voice of the bearded vampire growled out, in what could possibly be taken as a friendly manner.

"Well, passable, as I said on the phone. Glad you made it outta there in one piece back then, by the way."

Lyle pushed his hat back, as he studied his companion. "These days, son, I'm all for gettin' down to brass tacks. So what's the job? And what kinda money are we talking about?"

Trick grinned, his patsy for tonight's charade having swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker. "We got two Slayers in town, as you recall. I wanna shake things up a little, get rid of one or maybe even both of them tonight. Plan is for you to get paid 100 K, up-front, in order to do this."

"That's a whole lotta money, to get rid of one or two stinkin' little girls," Lyle suddenly looked suspicious. Trick knew, though, that the amount was in fact only going to be about ten thousand dollars; the base amount supplemented with play money and counterfeit to make up the numbers. "What's the catch?"

Mr. Trick tried to smile graciously. "There are plans within plans tonight, my Texan friend. You don't need to know details, only that the real power in this town wants the Slayers and their friends...distracted for the evening," the vampire said somewhat sardonically. "And who else can best provide said distraction, by killing the hell outta both of them like that?"

Gorch still wasn't entirely sold. "That's all? And we're talking a strictly cash deal, right?"

"Yeah. And hey, long as you don't try to just skedaddle and you stay away from places like the docks, bus depot and airport, I don't care what you do," Trick said with a grin.

Lyle thought about it, and eventually decided, "Done!"

And so soon enough the vampire, the last of the Gorch clan, received his money and the addresses of the Slayers. Lyle just briefly checked some of the non-consecutive serial numbers, and then went about his job for the evening...never realizing how his fellow undead had so thoroughly and shamelessly cheated him.

**

* * *

**

Sunset Ridge District, Sunnydale. An hour later

Lyle Gorch growled incoherently, for he was not a happy vampire.

He had checked out 1630 Revello Drive, but no one was there that evening; Joyce had gone to LA and was staying overnight on a business trip to do with her gallery, and Buffy was with Angel, telling him of the idea Wesley had come up with earlier that day.

So, with no other choice, he had gone to the Harris-LeHane residence.

Now Lyle had never found out Cordelia Chase was not in fact the second Slayer after Slayerfest '98, and Trick had wrongly assumed that Gorch knew which brunette girl to go out gunning for. So when Lyle saw Cordy leave the house after talking with Faith about her concerns over Xander's future, he pistol-whipped her in the back of the head, and easily caught Ms. Chase before she hit the ground.

"Say good night, darlin'. And by the way, I ain't forgotten how you called me a redneck moron back then! Oh, but this is gonna be so sweet..." Lyle morphed into game face, and sank his fangs into the unconscious girl's neck.

But almost immediately, he stopped. "Hey, you ain't a Slayer! Your blood don't taste no different from those whores I sampled over in Vegas, few days back!"

Still enraged, Lyle bent down to finish her off...but then suddenly reconsidered. "Maybe there's a way I can use this, though..."

Gorch dumped the poor girl into the rental car Trick had provided for him, and laid her out on the back seat. Then he tore off Cordelia's watch, attached it to a handwritten note wrapped around a rock, and hurled it through the front window of Faith's residence.

Laughing wildly, the undead cowboy then just drove off into the night.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Later that night

A council of war was taking place on what to do.

Faith had found the note at once, and had gone to Slayage HQ to tell Giles and Wesley what had happened. The rest of the gang had then been assembled, and Buffy had been uncomfortably reminded of a similar incident years back, when the vamps had kidnapped Cordy like this to help resurrect the Master...

The blonde Slayer looked over towards Xander, wishing that he could have somehow been kept out of this. Because there was no expression on his face at all – his eyes were blank as well, and he looked calm, as if he was only contemplating a tricky math problem.

But the Buffster knew better by now. Whenever Xander got this way, it reminded the girl of a meditating samurai warrior...just before he went out on a killing rampage, destroying whoever and whatever got in his way.

"You think she's okay?" Willow asked, worried about Cordelia.

"Hopefully," Wes said with brutal honesty. "But then vampires are not exactly well-known for their self-control, when it comes to matters like keeping human prisoners alive and in one piece. No offense, Angel."

"None taken," the brooding one replied absently.

"So what's the plan?" Buffy asked, looking at her father figure.

"We could try just doing what he wants, exchange me for Cordy – and I dust him first chance I get," Faith said, with an angry gleam in her eye.

"No way," Oz said at once.

"Yeah, Oz is probably right. I mean, this guy couldn't be that stupid since he's gone up against us twice before; it's gotta be a trap. He'd have some plan in place to kill you before you ever got the chance to do that..." Buffy said sourly.

"Well, he's supposed to be here at nine. We need to have a plan in place to deal with him and get Cordelia back before then," Giles announced.

"Hey, X," Faith called out. "What's your input on all this?"

Finally, Xander turned his head and joined in the conversation. "Something's not right about all this."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.

"Doesn't it strike any of you as being more than a little coincidental that a face from the past just shows up in town now, and kidnaps one of us like that? This guy's actions...we're not seeing the big picture here. If I'm right, he's just a drone...and this little stunt is just something to distract us, from whatever is really gonna happen tonight..."

Several faces just looked at one another, wondering how he had ever come up with that scenario. And whether or not he was in fact correct.

"So what do you suggest?" Faith demanded. "Assuming you're right, and hell, you usually are! What, we split up, and try to find out what it is they're distracting us from?"

Slowly, Xander shook his head. "Sunnydale is barely a speck on the map, but there ARE over 30,000 people here. And even if I am right, there's no way we can effectively spread out and cover the entire town, without some sort of clue as to where to even begin. No. Our priority has to be to save Cordelia."

"How?" Wesley asked. "Our opponent isn't going to be foolish enough to just bring her here onto our home ground, is he?"

"Unlikely," Xander ruminated.

"Maybe I should hit the streets, see if I can get lucky," Angel suggested.

"Go," Giles decided. "Faith and Buffy, you go, too; pay a call on Willy. The rest of us will wait here, and hopefully come up with something."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. A few hours later

Lyle Gorch had a huge grin on his face, as the dumbass actually walked straight into the lion's den.

There was no doubt of course that the vampire was not one of the greatest thinkers of his time, but his actions were almost stunning in their naiveté. The fool had arrived here, without Cordelia as expected, but with no other backup in sight. It was almost enough to make Xander think a Carlos-style double-cross was in the planning; but he couldn't see how that was possible, under these circumstances.

Lyle just slammed open the library doors, looked around and said, "Where the hell are the goddamn Slayers?"

Willow instantly levitated a number of pencils, aimed at his chest; and so Lyle whipped his personal sidearm out. "Listen up, witch. I don't care about you, I just want them two bitches! So don't try to do nothin', that'll make me hafta blow you away!"

"Let's all just calm down, shall we?" Wesley said quietly. "And nobody need blow anybody away-"

"Where's Cordelia?" Giles demanded of the vampire.

"Where's the Slayers? And I'd advise you to hurry up and answer, fella, my trigger finger's gettin' a mite itchy!"

"You really are a complete moron, aren't you?"

Lyle whirled around, amazed that someone had gotten behind him like that; and then he laughed, seeing a gun aimed at his face. "You think a bullet's gonna stop ME, boy? You're the moron!"

"I stand by my original statement," Xander replied, as both men pointed their pieces at one another. "You see, vampire, there's an old saying about how bad guys don't play by good guy rules. So if you want to win, don't ever bother trying to be some knight in shining armour."

"What in the tarnation you talkin' 'bout, son?" the vamp demanded irritably. "And make it snappy, I ain't got all night!"

"We all know ordinary bullets won't kill vamps, asshole. But see, I don't have ordinary bullets. We're talking about vamp killer ammo being pointed in your face, here."

Lyle laughed evilly. "Ain't no such thing around!"

Xander snorted, "I drilled holes into 'em and put a drop of mercury into the tip, before re-applying liquid lead and shaving the bullets back into their original shape. And when a round like that hits flesh, it doesn't just make a neat little hole; it'll demolish anything and everything in its path. In other words, at this range? Your skull bones are gonna be shattered to pieces, and you end up dust after your head falls apart. Savvy now?"

Lyle would have started sweating, if he could have; the vampire had heard about ammunition like this, such ordnance had been all the rage nearly 30 years back. "You're bluffing. These days, those kinda bullets are illegal as hell! And how the heck would a young punk like you know how to do somethin' like that, anyway?"

Harris smiled, but saw no reason to share the reasons for that sort of knowledge, acquired thanks to Ethan's spell last year. "Newsflash, brains trust. I'm resourceful, and I already told you – I don't play by good guy rules," Xander growled. "Now where's Cordelia?"

There was a tense face-off; precious moments ticked by, as the tension increased to almost unbearable levels...

Suddenly Lyle chickened out, lowering his weapon and slowly backing out of the library before he ran for it.

"Xander, why didn't you just shoot him?" Willow demanded, as they all chased after the bad guy.

"Because then he would have known I was bluffing," Harris admitted.

"WHAT?" more than one voice yelled out. As they were stunned to realize how they'd just been conned that way.

"Hey, I didn't lie; the bullets are real, and they work just fine for a rifle. But pistols are a whole other matter, they're much more likely to explode in your face with that sorta ammo..." Xander explained, as they ran out to the front of the school.

Only to confront Lyle aiming at Buffy, with his six-shooter.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Xander's conventional bullets from his spare gun tore into Gorch's flesh, the pain almost excruciating; which gave Buffy almost all the time in the world to rush forward, and slam a stake into the Texan vampire's heart.

Ashes fell gently down onto the grass, as Lyle Gorch was erased from existence.

"Now what?" Faith demanded, as she got up off the ground – her shoulder bleeding from the Texan's last act in his rather long un-life. Wesley removed his coat and tore strips off to apply to the wound, and let that good old Slayer healing do its job.

"How do we find Cordelia?" the brunette Chosen One then asked.

With no other option Angel took over, using his vampiric sense of smell to try to sniff her out. Oz tried to use his werewolf smelling ability as well; they led the group to the parking lot, and came to the conclusion that Lyle really had been as thick as a brick where it counted. As he'd just left Ms. Chase there in the back seat of the rented car.

Xander checked her pulse; she was still alive. "Hospital, right now!"

The white hats poured into their vehicles, and began an all-too-familiar journey towards Sunnydale General.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale Airport, Sunnydale. The same time

At the same runway where Ethan Rayne's plane to New York had taken off months ago, a small jet taxied to a stop and the main doors opened.

A man quickly left the plane, carrying a box that was chained to his wrist. And this was no ordinary box; this was in fact the artifact known as the Box of Gavrock. The final piece necessary in the Mayor's plan to ascend.

A vampire was waiting by a limo with a briefcase. The courier saw the soulless creature and asked, "Is he in the car?"

The bloodsucker just growled incoherently. Mr. Trick, hearing the commotion, got out of the vehicle and said cheerfully, "Greetings, my good man. The Mayor sends his regrets that he couldn't make it in person, but asked that you deal with me instead, in his place..."

The courier just snorted, "Yeah? Well, the price just went up. I don't like surprises!"

Trick sighed, or at least appeared to. "That's what I hate about this country. It's all become just gimme, gimme, gimme – ever since Joe Nameth decided to renegotiate his contract..."

Moving faster than the eye could see, Trick broke the courier's neck – just like he had done with that factory worker, way back when. "I never get tired of doing that!"

The minion searched the corpse, for the keys to the courier's cuffs. "He hasn't got them on him," he reported to his sire.

Trick just shrugged. "No problem," he said, and ripped the arm off the body.

**

* * *

**

City Hall, Sunnydale. A while later

The limo stopped outside the front of the building, and Trick quickly made his way in to find Richard Wilkins. The dismembered arm dangling from the handcuffs attached to the Box, was a sort of macabre fashion statement...from a certain point of view.

The Mayor, as soon as he saw the package, just raised an eyebrow. "I see you made an offer he couldn't refuse..."

"Or survive," Trick said simply, as he put the box down on the table.

Finally, Richard grinned. "Excellent work. Saved me a bundle not having to pay him!"

Trick bowed his head slightly. "I aim to please."

The Mayor clapped his hands. "Now, what about your old friend Mr. Gorch?"

"Paid him for services to be rendered. Okay, odds are those do-gooders have killed the guy already, but since it obviously distracted them to the point of not interfering with the delivery, I'd say it was money well spent."

"Excellent. Tying up loose ends that way, I have to say...well, it's just that it's wonderful how everyone comes out a winner. Everyone, of course, meaning me!"

Trick started trying to rip off the chain connected to the arm; but thanks to his efforts, the clasp of the Box got loose. The Mayor instantly slammed his hands down on top of the Box and said in a quiet, deadly voice, "Don't do that."

"Why, what's in there?" Trick asked, curious.

"About fifty billion critters, of the type that you REALLY don't want to mess with. Unless, of course," Wilkins indicated himself. "You happen to be invulnerable like myself..."

To Be Continued In Part 7


	7. Prom And Promises

See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. Thanks, as always, to all my reviewers. Well, we're getting towards the end now; there's only one more chapter after this to go, I'm happy to say. And so, hope you enjoy!

**

* * *

**

Part VII: Prom and Promises

**Shadyhill Cemetery, Sunnydale.** **May, 1999**

Four figures patrolled the cemetery that night. Two males, and two females.

The Chosen Two were out for a night of slaying, now that things had more-or-less gone back to normal after that business with Cordelia's kidnapping and near-death experience. Because after all, the vamps weren't taking any holidays around here, even though somewhat predictably things had started to slow down now that summer was just around the corner.

Another thing that was, unfortunately, predictable was the antics of their two companions...

"That's ridiculous. I never HEARD anything so ridiculous in my entire life!" Wesley hissed as they walked along.

"And just WHY is it ridiculous? Because the history books don't agree with me?" Angel snapped back.

"Because the French Revolution did NOT take place that way! And the Slayer of that time didn't just abandon her duties, to watch the executions!" Wes replied with a combination of annoyance and hauteur.

"Are we gonna have to have that argument again, about how inaccurate some of the Watcher diaries really are?" the ensouled vampire asked semi-wearily.

Not far away from the squabbling duo, Buffy and Faith kept an eye and ear out for anything threatening. The blonde Slayer was also monitoring the guys' conversation though, and shook her head. "Will you listen to those two? They're like a pair of little old ladies!"

Faith just smirked, as she sinuously padded along. "Well, at least it's free entertainment..."

"But they're always like that! I mean, when Wes said he wanted to accompany you tonight for the whole Slayer-Watcher thing like I used to do with Giles, I just KNEW this was gonna happen!" Buffy almost whined.

Faith glanced sideways at her. "Why's it buggin' you so much, B? I mean, apart from the whole 'annoying dummy arguing with my boyfriend' factor..."

Ms. Summers didn't get it. "Huh?"

Ms. LeHane just shrugged. "Could be wrong, but am I seein' a trace of the old green-eyed monster here?"

The older of the Chosen Two couldn't believe it. "What?"

"I'm just saying. The way Wesley and your boy toy talk so freely? Never really seen him do it with you. He's always too busy playing up the brooding, studly, 'king of pain' angle-"

"That's ridiculous!" Buffy exclaimed at once, leaping to conclusions. "I mean, Angel doesn't swing that way! I KNOW. And, come on – what would those two even have in common, if he did?"

"You mean, apart from all that stuff about vampires, and demons, and Watchers, and over 240 years worth of history that you don't really care about..."

The two Chosen paused and then looked at one another, and finally Faith could no longer keep her smirk to herself. The Summers girl's eyes went wide, and then she scowled at her companion after realizing how she'd been taken for a ride that way. "Oh, you...you..."

And all of a sudden, the obligatory vampire fight scene suddenly took place as a group of bloodsuckers showed up.

As battles went, it wasn't the hardest they'd ever had; these two girls had a rhythm now that in another time and place would have never existed, and before Angel and Wesley even had a chance to take part in the festivities – Buffy and Faith had each dusted their own target, and then simultaneously staked the last one in the back and in the front together.

"Why do they even bother anymore?" Faith said gleefully, stoked as always after a good kill.

"I rather suspect because the Mayor wants us distracted in the countdown towards the Ascension," Wesley put in, as he adjusted his glasses.

"Could be," Faith replied, as her mood dimmed a bit.

"I think we should get out of here," Angel muttered. "Patrol somewhere else, maybe. Unless you wanna go home and study for finals, Buffy?"

"Oh, right. Be that Buffy again, it's that time of year! Swell," the young woman said in annoyance, as the group moved off.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. The next day

Cordelia Chase was walking along, really hating her life. ( _It wasn't supposed to be like this,_ ) she thought to herself angrily. ( _Damn it, it's NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS!_ )

But her situation was what it was, and there was no way Ms. Chase could think of to change it. The IRS had now taken everything. The money, the house, the clothes, the trust fund – even her horse, Keanu! Basically, there were going to be no more shopping sprees with the Cordettes, and no more vacations in exotic foreign lands...

The Chase family, apart from her father who was soon headed to jail, now had to adjust to living poor.

( _Stupid Daddy for not filling out those forms out right. And stupid Mom for not having anything hidden away, for a rainy day!_ ) she seethed silently. ( _How did my life end up like this? To think, I don't even have a boyfriend anymore..._ )

It was worth noting as a mark of her character how the attack a few weeks ago by Lyle Gorch didn't even register any longer. Well, that night Xander and the others had gotten Cordelia to Sunnydale General and she had made a full recovery afterwards, so after the past three years – maybe that wasn't so surprising.

What WAS surprising though was how exactly she remembered that incident.

( _He helped saved me, but then only came once afterwards to the hospital. I mean, geez, what does a girl have to DO to get Xander Harris's attention nowadays? Well, guess becoming a Slayer isn't enough to cut it anymore, what with the way he and Buffy are on the outs with one another – and the way he threw a pillow at Faith that night..._ ) the young femme cogitated.

"Hello, Cordelia."

"Eeee!" the brunette girl squeaked, jumping a little as Xander materialized beside her. She then stopped and faced him, saying angrily, "Don't DO that! I've told you before – make some noise when you walk, mister!"

Xander shrugged, "Sorry. Bad habit..." Then he frowned, "Cordelia, is there something bothering you? Something that you're not telling me?"

"What do you mean?" the cheerleader shot back at once, a small feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

"It's just that I've noticed you've been acting kinda...angry, lately. And the other night when you were sleeping in the library after that research party? I heard you begging someone in your sleep not to cut up your credit cards. I was just wondering, what gives?"

"Don't ask," she shot back, the feeling of dread intensifying. ( _I do NOT want his pity!_ ) "My personal life is none of your business anymore!"

"Fine. But I just want to help, if I can-"

"You want to HELP me?" Cordelia screeched out, suddenly at the end of her tether. "It's been over five months since you tore out my heart and stomped all over it, and NOW you want to help me? Do you have any idea what you did to me, you jerk?"

Harris just absorbed the vitriol undefensively, suspecting that whatever it was that had gone wrong in her life – was now making Cordy lash out like this. "I'm sorry about all that..."

"Oh, sure, and that makes it all better! Do you have any idea how many boyfriends I've gone through, ever since you sandbagged 'us' that day? DO YOU? Even kissing Wesley wasn't enough to make me get over what you did!" Cordelia ranted.

Xander raised his eyebrows in astonishment, which was a somewhat rare thing for him nowadays. "You and Wesley? Well, uh, I guess I always knew you liked older men...I mean, there's Angel, and there's also that demon frat boy from two years ago-"

"I'm not interested in ancient history right now," Ms. Chase hissed, definitely not in the mood for one of their verbal matches at the moment.

"Okay then, what about the present? Like, Prom's coming up. Who's taking you?" Xander asked her calmly, changing the subject.

Cordelia was caught a bit flat-footed. "I don't know. It WAS going to be Mashad Bolling, but please...that loser has eyes for anything in a skirt, and I want a guy who'll want to be there for me alone!" Then she hesitantly asked, "So, uh, who are you going with?"

Xander shrugged. "High school proms aren't really my scene, not anymore. I wasn't planning to attend-"

"WHAT?" Cordelia demanded. "How can you not want to go? It's the Prom, and we're seniors. You HAVE to go! It's like an unwritten law!"

"All right, fine!" Xander said, a bit annoyed – and wondering why she was acting this way. "I'll go rent a tux from April Fools-"

"Don't go there. I shop there!" Cordelia blurted out. Not wanting to admit that she had in fact gotten a job at the establishment, to be able to buy a Prom dress. One that last year, she would have turned her nose up at in disgust; but then, six-hundred dollar outfits weren't exactly her style anymore.

Xander just stared at her suspiciously. Then he said, "I gotta go. See you in class..."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. Later that day

Not long before lunchtime, Harris walked into the library to see Wesley and Giles looking at the Books of Ascension worriedly. "Hello, gentlemen. And I probably don't need to ask, but why the looks of impending doom and gloom?"

Wesley put down his glasses. "The Ascension is almost upon us, and we still haven't come up with a plan on how to defeat the Mayor. And God have mercy, but the only thing on anyone's mind right now is that blasted high school dance!"

"Ah. You and Rupert have been roped in to do chaperoning duty for the Prom, huh?" Xander asked knowingly.

"Tuxedos and all," Giles sighed in that distinctive British accent.

"Well, it could be worse."

"How?" Wes and Giles asked the boy at the same time.

"Snyder might have forced you to bring dates," Xander mused, as he checked out one of the books. "Listen, I need to make the time to obtain a tux myself...but for now, let's concentrate on the big A-day-"

Suddenly Willow and Oz came in, and looked a bit uncomfortable at seeing Xander there. "Uh, hi!" the redhead said simply.

"What she said," Oz added calmly.

Luckily, Xander didn't seem concerned by their hesitant attitudes. "Let's grab a seat and get with the book learning! We got us a pure demon to find." He looked at Wes and Giles again, "You guys have narrowed it down a bit, right?"

"Well, there are – it come down to three distinct choices, in my opinion," Wes started to say officiously, slipping back into old habits.

"Wesley, for heaven's sake – it's two, not three! We can rule out the Old One known as Illyria, as those required rituals are well nigh impossible in this day and age! Even for someone like the Mayor," Giles shot back in exasperation.

Pryce shrugged. "Well, then, if we're left with only two choices? It's either the demon known as Olvikan, or the one known as Lo-Hash."

"Any firm candidate in mind to win?" the werewolf asked.

Wesley shrugged. "Myself, I think it's Olvikan. Lo-Hash is a four-winged Soul Killer, but not all that fierce according to my sources within the Council."

Giles suddenly seemed to have a thought, and headed off into the stacks. Wesley then looked at the others and asked, "Where's Buffy and Faith?"

"Uh, I dunno about Faith, but I think Snyder was making Buffy personally dance to his tune again. The big poop-head! Boy, I'm gonna be glad when we never have to talk to him anymore," the witch said, rolling her eyes.

At that moment, Giles came rushing back with a book in his hand. "Yes, yes...here we go, there's a reference to the legend of Ollokai, a fierce sixty-foot long snake. The name might be a bastardization of Olvikan, and the description fits..."

"Let me see..." Wes leaned over and grabbed the volume, ignoring the suddenly-pale faces of some of the teenagers. "Ah. A village near the site of a dormant volcano in Hawaii...yes, hmmm. This looks promising. And why does this also ring a bell, vaguely...?"

Suddenly, Xander went to grab the library's copy of the local newspaper. He pointed to a story on page 5 of the Sunnydale Press and said, "Local Professor Returns from Geological Expedition to Hawaii?"

"Of course!" both Englishmen said in unison.

"You two are gonna go talk to this guy, right?" Oz asked calmly, not really needing to hear the answer.

"Uh, and what's his name?" Willow added.

"Yes, and Professor Lester Wirth," Rupert said out loud. "He's right here at UC Sunnydale as I recall, which is only about five miles away. I think this should be our priority-"

"Agreed," Wesley said, as he went to get his coat. "And I suggest we hurry!"

**

* * *

**

Main Street, Sunnydale. A while later

Faith and Xander were making their way down the street, heading for the April Fools clothing store. "So, you sure you don't wanna attend this little gathering of hormone-filled guys and gals?" Harris asked his companion.

Faith snorted. "Please. Can you really see me at one of those things, these days? Last time I went to something like that, it was what – you guys' Homecoming dance? Man, I shoulda been there with Buffy, fighting alongside her in that Slayerfest competition! Might've been able to take care of that Lyle Gorch character, then and there...and saved Cordelia from getting her little love bite months later!"

"Water under the bridge," Harris remarked. And suddenly, he was reminded of when he had been cheating on that brunette girl with Willow, for no good reason...

( _What was I thinking then? Yeesh. Hmm, wonder if Willow ever told Oz about all that? Kinda doubt it, the way those two are joined at the hip nowadays. Ah, well, wherever they go off to college, hope they have a long and happy life together..._ ) Xander thought to himself before saying. "So, Faith. Buffy's talked to you about life, post-high school?"

The LeHane girl gestured as they walked, "Yeah, yeah. How she's heading off to UCLA with G, and all that..."

"Right, so it looks like Sunnydale's gonna be your own private playground soon enough, once the Mayor's ass is toast. And ya know what? I already know that you're gonna do all of us proud," Xander said seriously as they finally arrived at the door of the clothing store.

Faith stopped him and looked at the guy with those big brown eyes of hers. And Harris could see a strange combination of joy, sadness and gratitude there. "You really mean that?"

Xander nodded. "I wouldn't say it, if I didn't believe it. You've come a long way ever since that bastard Kakistos chased you into town, Slay-gal. And I can't think of anyone better to guard the Hellmouth once Buffy takes over LA."

The dark-haired Slayer just stared at him. "Is there any way I can talk YOU out of your plans, roomie? I mean, you and me together here, one day we might be able to wipe out the bloods completely..."

"Wishful thinking, but thanks for the sentiment," he just smirked as they entered the shop.

Faith became entranced by something in leather, and so Xander told her he'd be right back as he headed for the menswear section. When all of a sudden, the former geek saw something he found very difficult to accept was real.

And that was the sight of Cordelia Chase wearing a nametag.

( _I don't believe it. What the hell, is she WORKING here? It's a sure sign of the upcoming apocalypse, if so..._ )

Xander watched as Cordy served a customer with a fake smile on her face, her body language indicating to him vast amounts of humiliation. Then as a more senior saleswoman came over and dismissed the former rich girl with a wave of her hands, Harris noticed the momentary look of abject misery and pain on Cordelia's features as she departed the scene.

Carefully positioning himself right in front of her, Xander then simply said, "Hello, Cor."

The one-time Queen C felt her eyes bulge out, at the sight of her ex. "What are you doing here?" she hissed in a whisper, looking around. "I thought I told you not to come to this place!"

"Right. And that was supposed to stop me from doing whatever I wanted?" Xander asked archly. He then pulled the girl over into one of the changing rooms, and closed the doors. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Like I said before, none of your damn business!" Cordelia snapped, trying not to yell.

"Cordelia..."

"All right, FINE! I'm working here in order to get a dress for the Prom," the young woman almost seemed to visibly deflate.

"Still not getting you. I mean, don't you already have the perfect dress for this shindig?" Xander asked.

"I've got nothing, okay? It's all gone. The dresses, the money, all of it. Just because Daddy made a couple of mistakes on his taxes. For the last twelve years! Basically, the government swooped in and stripped us of everything. Like a bunch of piranhas. My father's about to go to prison, plus my mother got drunk the moment she lost it all – and she's still yet to sober up! I don't even have a house to live in anymore, I..."

Cordelia Chase couldn't help it, she began to cry. Instantly, Xander took her in his arms and let her sob her heart out. "It'll be okay, Cordy, I promise it's gonna be okay somehow..."

"How? Tell me that, Xander, how is it gonna be okay? Every day almost, I'm here to tell the ugly and undeserving how to accessorize. Even on weekends! And it's not gonna be enough to pay for my dress, I can tell! I'm not gonna have anything worthwhile to wear to the Prom. Hell, I'm not even gonna have anyone to go with! And after high school's over, there's gonna be no more skiing trips to Aspen like last Christmas, or shopping stopovers in Beverley Hills. No chance to go to college, and meet a future lawyer or doctor who'll make me forget about you! There's just a dreary future, working some crappy minimum wage job-" Cordelia kept sobbing.

He held her tightly, comforting the tall brunette. But whatever Xander would have said in reply to all that was destined to remain forever unheard, as the sound of screaming filled the store.

Xander and Cordelia rushed out of the change room, just in time to see Faith wrestling some kind of demon dog and snapping its neck. "Banzai!" the Slayer yelled victoriously, even though she was trapped underneath her enemy's dead weight.

Assassin instincts, still present even after months of living with Ludlum's fictional ghosts of the past, made Xander do an instant sweep of the area. And his eagle eye caught someone at the window through which the hell-beast had jumped, looking annoyed instead of terrified.

Leaving his companion behind without a thought, Xander sprinted towards the other man – who, upon noticing he'd been discovered, turned around and ran for it himself.

"Xander!" "Wait up!"

Harris firmly ignored the two female cries, and kept running after his target. The chase lasted for a short while, and ended up in the alley across the road; the guy had made it to some sort of van, but before he could jump inside Xander tackled him to the ground.

"No, don't! Please. Please, don't hurt me," the guy whimpered.

"You should know that there are 215 bones in the human body. And I'll break however many of them that I need to before I'm done with you," Xander growled at him, cursing the fact that he was unarmed. "Start talking!"

"I, I don't know what-"

Then the guy screamed, as Xander unceremoniously broke one of his fingers with a savage twist. "Let's get something straight right now. I ask the questions, you provide the answers. Otherwise, you'll end up begging me to kill you to make the pain stop." He leaned over right into the other guy's face, his features a grim rictus of anger. "Understand?"

"Yes-"

Harris pulled both himself and the other guy up. "Name?"

"Tucker. Tucker Wells," the youth whimpered. "Please, don't hurt me-"

"What was that thing you unleashed into the dress shop just now?" Xander demanded. "And if you say you have no idea, I'll break two more of your fingers...just for starters."

The flat, no-nonsense tone of a professional killer almost made Tucker crap in his pants. "They're called hellhounds, they're-they're demon foot soldiers. Please believe me, I know it sounds crazy but-"

"Shut up, I believe you. All right, why did you do that? Unleash a hellhound here and now, I mean..." In his mind, Xander was already wondering if this guy was the human acolyte of some higher-level demon, and if so what that implied.

But Wells just said hollowly, "It was a test, to see if the conditioning worked."

"Conditioning?" Harris demanded, as he threw Tucker against the side of the vehicle and put a hand to his throat.

"No, please! All right, look, I was planning to unleash a bunch of them at the Sunnydale High Senior Prom...the plan was for my fiercest babies to kill everyone in a tuxedo, and I'd finally get revenge on all the people who made my life hell in high school. Make 'em pay for that!"

Xander shook his head in disgust, as he hauled Wells upright from the car. ( _He's just a petty, incompetent asshole. This guy is too pathetic even to be called evil by this town's standards!_ )

"Come on, Tucker. We're gonna go for a ride, and you're going to take me to wherever you've got the rest of your devil dogs stashed. See, sorry to have to tell ya this, but they're all gonna have to be put down before the dance. And by the way, if we don't get there within half an hour, tops? By the time I do track down their hiding place...you're gonna be the condemned man's last meal, so to speak. Is that clear?" Xander said in a way-too-calm voice.

Tucker just nodded, scared out of his wits by the look in the eyes of this...this maniacal lunatic, that held him prisoner.

**

* * *

**

April Fools Dress Store, Sunnydale. Not long after working hours

Cordelia sighed, as she packed up for the day. Tonight was the Prom, and yet she couldn't seem to muster up any excitement about that.

She and Faith had lost track of Xander as he'd vanished out of the store earlier, chasing after...someone. Then they had gone back to the library to tell the rest of the gang what had happened...only to have Harris later stroll through the doors, and tell them all that the hellhound problem had been solved.

Naturally of course, everyone had started asking questions, but she couldn't stay; Cordy knew that she had to get back to work, in a futile effort to try to obtain her Prom dress.

Curiously enough, Xander had also started asking himself questions during that meeting as Ms. Chase left the scene. Like where Bourne ended, and he began. The lines had become so blurred now that even the teenager himself had trouble figuring that out.

Doing things like that to Tucker Wells was something Xander knew he would have been incapable of, before Ethan had enspelled him for the second time. And the boy also knew that he was gonna have to do something drastic now to figure out who he really was, all his efforts over the last half-year having obviously proved insufficient.

In any case, just as Cordelia was about to leave her workplace, one of the other salesgirls called out, "Hey! Don't forget your dress. Aren't you wearing it tonight?"

Cordelia said grouchily, "As much as I hate to admit it, I haven't finished paying for it yet."

Her work colleague shrugged. "Well, somebody did."

That shocked the Chase girl out of her mope-y mood. "What? Who?" She looked at the receipt, but there was no name there. "Uh...so there's no problem if I take this?" the brunette girl tried to focus on priorities.

"The answer would be, yes. And if madam wishes to get changed, her carriage to the Prom awaits."

Cordelia whirled around, and stared open-mouthed at Xander in his tux. "You...?"

"I promised you that it was gonna be okay somehow, didn't I?" Harris said with a small smile, one that instantly made Cordelia want to hug him, as well as a lot more. "Now go on, hurry up and get changed – I took the liberty of dropping by that place near the docks you're staying at, and grabbing everything else you'll need for a perfect Prom. I mean, it's fine to be fashionably late and all, but we don't want anyone to be able to accuse you of committing a social faux pas either, do we?"

A huge smile on her face, Cordelia quickly embraced her ex; then she turned around and ran for the change rooms – and in record time, she was ready to go. Hair, makeup and the perfect Gucci shoes and purse to match, in place. "I'm ready!"

Xander stuck his arm out, and with a feeling of pure joy Ms. Chase slipped her hand in and accompanied the young man outside. Then her heart almost stopped beating, at the sight of a genuine horse-drawn carriage waiting for them.

"Xander, what is going on here?" the young woman demanded, her hazel eyes huge. "How the hell can you afford all this?"

"Ancient Chinese secret, grasshopper," Harris smiled mysteriously. Not wanting to mention the ten thousand dollars he'd discovered in Lyle Gorch's rental car, that had been appropriated for his future plans. "Besides. What's magic without a bit of mystery?"

Staring at her ex-boyfriend – and fervently wishing with all her heart that Xander was still hers, in every sense of the word – Cordelia just silently got into the carriage, and they made their way to the dance.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. Later that night

The Prom was in full swing, by the time the former couple got there. There were more than a few murmurings about Cordelia Chase showing up with Xander Harris of all people, but for the most part the senior class just ignored the odd pairing and partied like it was 1999. Which technically, of course, it was.

"Xander, you came! I thought you weren't coming," Willow said with a beaming smile on her face, hanging off Oz's arm. The musician himself was clad in a tuxedo that highlighted his 'rocker rebel' image.

"I had a promise to keep to a lady. And I have this thing about keeping my promises," Xander said simply. And in his mind, a memory quickly came to life about Bourne's last battle with Carlos...

The four teenagers wandered around, and mingled. And soon enough they came upon Buffy, who was apparently alone. "Hey guys," the Slayer said simply.

"Carrying the banner for the Chosen Two tonight?" Xander asked, trying to be friendly despite the distance that had grown between them.

"Yeah, Faith's out patrolling. And before you ask...Angel's not here, he's not gonna be coming."

This remark was news to the X-man. "Why not?"

"Well, uh, he broke up with me recently," Buffy replied, suddenly looking like she was making an effort not to cry.

Cordelia quickly steered him away, and Xander just watched as Willow and Oz seemed to comfort Buffy. Albeit weakly. Shaking his head, as Cordelia went to get some punch Xander headed over to the chaperone table, where he saw the older British duo. "Rupert, Wesley. How are things going tonight?"

Both men seemed pleased to see him. "Ah, Xander, there you are. We missed you earlier – congratulations on dealing so efficiently with that particular demon menace," Wesley said at once.

"Thanks," he replied. "So, how did it go with Professor Wirth?"

"Even better than expected," Giles was actually beaming in pleasure. "He found something on his expedition – a carcass, buried under an old lava bed close by that dormant volcano."

"Let me guess. Our boy Olvikan?" the male teen inquired.

"The good professor posited that it might in fact have been some heretofore-undiscovered dinosaur. But according to the data he showed us, for all practical purposes – I'm certain it's our demon in question," Wesley had a smile on his face.

Xander raised an eyebrow. "And this gives you a happy, why?"

"Think about it, Xander. As a human, the Mayor is supposedly invulnerable, according to what Buffy says Mr. Trick boasted about. But Olvikan was killed by that volcano back then. That means once he ascends, Richard Wilkins will become vulnerable once more. In his demon form, we can kill him!" Rupert almost looked like the cat that ate the canary.

"Right. So all we need is another volcano spewing out a million tons of lava. The Council can arrange that?" Harris asked cynically.

"Can't I leave you alone even for ten seconds? It's Senior Prom, Xander – will you PLEASE get your mind out of the Hellmouth for once?" Cordelia looked annoyed as she came over and handed her date his drink.

"Sorry," Harris smirked as he took a sip.

"Miss Chase – Cordelia – may I say, y-you look utterly spectacular this evening," Wesley stumbled through the compliment, somewhat nervous around the brunette beauty given their history.

"Thanks," Cordelia smiled. And for the first time EVER – there was something about her smile that reminded Xander of Marie St. Jacques, how happy she'd looked when proof had finally been found that her lover wasn't one of the bad guys after all.

Xander shook his head, dismissing that as the boy called Jonathan Levinson then took the stage to start handing out the 1999 senior class awards. And to everyone's surprise and delight, Buffy was given the final award of Class Protector, which seemed to make up a little for the Angel miss-age.

"You're not upset about failing to get the award for Class Clown, are you Xander?" Willow asked the guy, when she and Oz came over.

"No, Willow. That part of my life ended a long time ago, and I'm...different now," Harris replied calmly.

"The only constant is change," Oz said with Yoda-like wisdom.

"Ain't that for sure!" Cordy suddenly said. "Look!" She gestured over towards Buffy, and everyone noticed Angel in a tux talking to her.

"Guess he changed his mind about coming," Willow observed, happy for her best friend.

"Well, people have a way of surprising you like that," Xander added. "Miss Chase, may I have the pleasure of the next dance?"

The young woman's classic megawatt smile instantly appeared. "You may, Mr. Harris!"

As they led the group onto the dance floor, Xander knew that Graduation and the Ascension were only days away. But for tonight at least, that didn't matter; because it was his job to make this an evening to truly remember, for his dance partner.

To Be Concluded in Part 8


	8. Graduation

See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. Well, here it is at long last, the end of TXI - finally! And once again, I just wanted to say thank you. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all those who have reviewed this story, and also to my beta readers - who helped me polish it up and finish it off. Thanks heaps guys, I honestly couldn't have done it without you! And so, now, the conclusion...

**

* * *

**

Part VIII: Graduation

**City Hall, Sunnydale. Late May, 1999**

Richard Wilkins went into his office and sat down. ( _Well, my. But just look at the time,_ ) he thought to himself with a smile. ( _Big day's almost here..._ )

The Mayor leaned back and enjoyed the fleeting sensation of being on top of the world, almost. Then he frowned as some annoying thoughts crossed his mind. ( _That darn geology professor, Lester Wirth. Who'd have figured that he'd just suddenly leave town like that? Well, never mind. One minor little loose end at this late stage hardly matters, and when I finally ascend..._ )

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. The same time

Xander Harris signed for his graduation gown alone, and noticed Willow and Buffy talking. He walked over to them and said, "Hey."

"Hey," "Hi," blonde and redhead replied, a few more bridges having been built ever since Prom night. Then Willow added, "Xander, Buffy just said she's not gonna go to Graduation! That she's gonna fight the Mayor instead-"

"She can't do both?" Harris asked in surprise.

"What do you mean?" the Chosen One asked.

"Ah. You haven't heard who the commencement speaker's gonna be then, obviously," Xander nodded to himself.

Buffy's eyes went wide. "HIM? Oh, boy. So Wilkins is gonna become a whale-sized demon with a hundred helpless kids to feed on right in front of him? Wonder what other surprises are in store for us!"

Just then Xander spied Cordelia, and excusing himself from his one-time best buds he quickly chased after her. "Hey, Cordy! Wait up!"

The brunette girl stopped and turned around. "Yeah, Xander, what is it?"

The male teenager didn't like her tone, but kept that to himself. "How've you been? We haven't really talked since Prom-"

"Gee, is that right? And to think, I never even noticed!"

Xander sighed to himself, he'd been afraid of this. Back after the dance was over that evening, Cordelia had dragged him away from the gym to the finest hotel in Sunnydale for the...hotel room ritual.

And he knew, the guy just KNEW that what she'd wanted from him then was a mistake; but Harris had given Ms. Chase his word to make her end-of-school rite of passage 'perfect', after all. And that meant being unable to refuse her sexual advances that night, even though Xander had made it clear that it would be a one-time-only thing.

"Look, Xander, I already said thanks for the dress and everything. If you want me to start paying you back-"

Harris by now knew something was seriously wrong. "What's the matter with you? OF COURSE I don't want that!"

"Then what do you want from me?" Cordelia asked simply.

"Well, I want to make sure you're gonna be all right, for one thing. You know, I still can't believe how you turned down my offer to move in with me and Faith-"

The cheerleader instantly snarled, "I don't want your charity! I just want-" she abruptly stopped, and looked away.

"What?" Xander asked curiously.

Finally, Ms. Chase looked him right in the eye. "You."

Xander exhaled again. "But Cordy...we went through this on Prom Night, and other times before that. I'm, I'm not who you think I am, I'm not that person anymore-"

"BULLSHIT!" Cordelia snapped. "You're just afraid of trying to build yourself a life with me!"

Xander was by this point starting to get angry. "You wanted to know about my plans after high school...okay, fine, here it is. I'm leaving Sunnydale. I'm heading for France, and hopefully do the whole backpacking trip through Europe thing."

Cordy's eyes went wide at hearing that. "You're gonna do what?"

Harris sighed for a third time. "Despite what you may think, the Bourne memories haven't faded away like the ones from Soldier Guy did two years ago. Whatever Ethan Rayne really did to my ass last year, it's not...well, maybe since the power of the spell was completely focused on yours truly, the effects were different this time. Cor, I've watched myself do things over the last six months that I'm sure I never would have done otherwise. That's why I need to go to places like Paris and Zurich, to finally prove to myself that those memories aren't real. That I'm Xander Harris, not...him. Establish my own identity, once and for all."

"So when are you coming back?" Cordelia asked, her eyes becoming somewhat shiny.

"I don't know," Xander said simply. "It'll take...as long as it takes." He pushed back some hairs behind her ear, hating the fact that he seemed to be causing his ex-girlfriend nothing but pain.

"I just want to know one thing. Did you ever love me? Even a little?" the poor girl asked, her heart obviously on her sleeve.

"You were the first girlfriend I ever had, Cordelia. Not to mention, technically my first. How could I NOT have loved you, and more than just a tiny bit?" His hand fell away from her hair as Xander smirked a fraction.

That was all the encouragement the cheerleader needed to slam her lips upon his, as Cordelia grabbed Xander's head for about two seconds and then said, "Well, I still love you. Live with it!", before she stormed away down the school corridor.

"Wow," was all that the one-time agent/assassin could say in astonishment, ignoring the looks from all the students around him.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Courtyard, Sunnydale. Later that day

Richard Wilkins was alone with Principal Snyder, as the headmaster of the school explained what the protocols for Graduation were going to be. "Kids are here. Parents off to the side there. We'll go up, they'll play the processional, I introduce you, and then you'll give the address, sir."

The Mayor nodded. "It all looks wonderful..."

Snyder smiled politely, which looked like a very awkward expression; most likely, he wasn't used to doing it very much. In fact as far as anyone knew, Snyder hadn't smiled ever since the night of the Band Candy incident. Apart of course, from when the school administrator had had an open shot at examining all the lockers of the student body when that 'Gingerbread' demon had come to town...

"I assure you, it'll all go off as planned. The parents and students will be here when it's time. Because I believe in making sure everything gets done properly!" the principal then said vehemently.

Wilkins just smiled and congratulated himself again for choosing this annoying little man to run the high school. Snyder was obviously a control freak without any friends, a stunted individual who had most likely never gone on a date once in his life. That said, though, his autocratic ways on campus had probably kept the majority of students alive up until now.

Which was just fine and dandy with the honorable Mayor. The more of those kids at the graduation ceremony, the better. "So I see. But seriously, you've done very well. Both Sunnydale and I owe you a great debt," the politician then said smoothly.

"Thank you, sir."

Wilkins grinned, "Please, call me Richard. You know, I'm going to make you a promise. That debt which I just mentioned? It will be repaid. Yes sir, when the time comes? We'll mark that invoice paid in full!"

"Thank you, si...Richard," Snyder stumbled for a moment.

"Well, I won't take up any more of your valuable time," Wilkins said, as he started to move off. "You just take care of everything, while I take the opportunity to admire this fine school of yours. Toodles!"

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. A short while later

Wesley and Giles were fencing, Oz and Willow were chatting, and Buffy was sparring with Faith. Cordelia was just staring at Xander, though, who yet again seemed to be lost in a world of his own.

But in a moment, everything changed.

Xander's head snapped up, at the exact same time as the Chosen Two stopped training and took up their standard attack positions facing the doors of the library. Ms. Chase and the others looked around too...

Just in time to see the Mayor walk in. "Well, hello everyone! Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Richard Wilkins III, the Mayor of..."

"We know who and what you are," Giles said icily, holding his sword.

"Well, of course you do. So then, let's dispense with the formalities, shall we? I wanted to personally meet you all, right here in the home of the Slayer. Sorry, make that Slayers! Gosh, but it gets hard to keep up with the little things around here, doesn't it?" Wilkins still had that friendly smile on his face.

He went on, "Now, then. Rupert Giles and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, if I'm not mistaken? The two high school librarians, guardians of sacred knowledge. Guardians of other things too, of course. Well, let me please say 'thank you'. I'm told you and your kids here have saved the world on a number of occasions! And thus Sunnydale owes you its continued existence. Yes, it certainly does!"

"You know, you sure seem to like to talk a lot," Buffy spoke up suddenly.

"What did ya expect, B? Politicians, they always keep flappin' their jaws. Love the sound of their own voices far too much!" Faith added, staring at the evil newcomer.

Wilkins just chuckled. "My! That's a very cynical view of the world, young lady. Must be your upbringing. Trailer trash home in Boston, wasn't it?"

Without warning, Giles plunged the fencing sword deep into Richard's chest. The Mayor staggered back, before regaining his balance. "Whoa! Well now, that was a little thoughtless." He pulled the blade out of his chest, "Violent outbursts like that, in front of the children? You know, Mr. Giles, they look to you and Mr. Pryce here to see how to behave. So I'd say that was very improper of you!"

He wiped the sword clean of blood with a handkerchief, as everyone digested the fact that Wilkins truly was unkillable for now. "You are not welcome here. And you would be wise to kindly depart at once," Wesley spoke as firmly as he could.

"Oh, English good manners! Been a while since I've had the pleasure," Wilkins just put that damned smile back on his face, as he strolled around the library. "Now what have we here? 'The beast will walk upon the earth and darkness will follow. The several races of man will be as one in their terror and destruction'. Really, what are you kids reading these days? Well, at least it's better than 'Harry Potter'..."

"You're sick," Cordelia spoke up in disgust. "Not to mention evil as!"

Wilkins turned the full force of his stare on her. "Cordelia Chase, am I right? May Queen, Prom Queen...but not Homecoming Queen, as I recall. That's a darn pity, too, I always thought. You know, your high school counselor used to report such wonderful things to me about you, until you fell in with the wrong crowd of course-"

"Hardly," Xander spoke up, stepping in front of his ex. "I've been wanting to personally meet you for a LONG time, Wilkins."

"Really? And you are?" the Mayor said politely.

Luckily, Xander didn't rise to the bait. "The guy who's been investigating you for the last three months, and please don't pretend you didn't know that."

"Ah, Mr. Harris! Yes, of course," Wilkins got an even bigger smile on his face. "Well, if I may ask, do I pass muster? Live up to all your expectations?"

"And then some," Xander replied. "Tell me something. Did you really arrange for Buffy to come to Sunnydale way back when, and unknowingly act as your personal troubleshooter to deal with the Master, Spike, Angelus and everything else over the last three years?"

The rest of the gang just stared at him in surprise, as Wilkins laughed. "Well now, that's an interesting theory. Bravo, young man! Tell me, how did you come up with it?"

"A little gift from your old pal Ethan Rayne last year," Xander said, walking around slightly. "By the way, I also read about the woman you married in 1903, what was her name? Edna Mae, or something like that. Now I'm no shrink, but I couldn't help wondering if she ever cheated on you, once she realized what you were?"

For an instant, the Mayor's façade slipped and a look of inhuman rage could be seen on his face. Then the mask slid smoothly back into place as he lifted the sword, "Unless you want to be gutted like a sea bass, myself I'd suggest showing a bit of respect for your elders, young man-"

"Respect is something earned, not given. YOU of all people should know that," Xander shot back calmly as Faith came to stand at his and Cordelia's side.

"You don't-" Wilkins started to say.

But Harris interrupted, "That reminds me, I also wanted to ask – Lyle Gorch? I'm not wrong in assuming he was working for you when he came back to town last month, am I? Because really, cheating him out of ninety percent of his pay. Not exactly something to respect a man for, is it? And I can't help wondering what the local Chamber of Commerce would think about that..."

Another look of murderous anger appeared, and Faith stepped in saying, "I got my own theory I'd like to test. You may not technically be killable, but is there anything preventing me and B from hacking you into little pieces, right here, right now – and storing your body parts in a lot of different steel boxes? Kinda like my buds here took care of that Judge character, way back when..."

Buffy added, "Oh yeah, right, that was a fun time for all the family. Lots of mayhem and hijinks for everyone concerned!"

Wilkins just stepped back, his cheerful expression now firmly back in place. He looked towards Giles and Wes and chuckled, "Very innovative. I have to say, that's some spunky kids you two have got there. I'm going to enjoy flossing my teeth with their viscera!"

He looked around, and after tossing the sword to the floor added, "I smell fear. That's smart. Some of your deaths will be quick, if that's worth anything. Not many, though. The majority of you will be in a for a world of pain."

There was a short pause, as Wilkins looked around again and let that sink in. "Well, see you all at Graduation. And by the way, you don't want to miss my commencement address, it's going to be one heck of a speech! Been working on it for a hundred years-"

"Which means the odds of you actually having anything original to say are shockingly slim," Xander couldn't help adding.

The Mayor didn't respond to the jibe, and just casually walked out the library doors.

**

* * *

**

City Hall, Sunnydale, California. Later that afternoon

Mr. Trick knocked and entered into the Mayor's office, finding the man in question deep in thought. Wilkins then looked up and said, "Well?"

"Talked to Rayne personally," the black vampire reported. "Apparently, some things went on the night we had to give that Lurconis guy his tribute that I didn't know about..."

"I'm all ears," said the other male in the room.

Richard Wilkins then heard the whole fantastic tale of what Ethan had done to Xander that night, and exhaled sharply. "Well! That certainly explains a lot. I KNEW there was a reason why that little boy almost disturbed the heck outta me. Insightful, devious and easily able to kill." The Mayor chortled, "Gosh. I should have offered him a job ages ago!"

"You want me to send out some of my people to kill him?" Trick asked nonchalantly.

Instantly, Wilkins shook his head. "No, no, certainly not! That pleasure will be mine alone, soon enough. But I can't help thinking, this is an opportunity. Yes sir, an opportunity indeed. Distract and conquer, Mr. Trick. That's the name of the game."

"As I recall the saying goes 'divide and conquer'," the undead guy pointed out.

Wilkins got up and placed a friendly hand on the vampire's shoulder. "My town, my rules. Now don't contradict me again." He squeezed hard, and Trick suddenly had a look of agony on his face. "It might make me think you're not a team player..."

**

* * *

**

Not far from the Sunnydale Docks. Later that night

Things had started to move faster, now that the end was drawing near.

Willow and Oz made love for the first time that afternoon, as the Amy rat watched from her cage. Elsewhere Buffy packed her mother's things, and sent Joyce out of town for her own safety. In the library Giles and Wesley tried to come up with a plan for destroying the Mayor with minimum civilian casualties, but didn't get very far.

But all of that meant little to the two vampires perched on top of one of the warehouses. They watched as two teenagers, a boy and a girl, walked along the street – and then Mr. Trick fired his crossbow, hitting the male in the shoulder with the arrow.

"You didn't kill him," said his minion, the same one who had been at the airport that night.

"That was the whole point," Trick smirked, as Xander suddenly went berserk and the dark-haired Slayer had to punch him unconscious.

**

* * *

**

Angel's mansion, Crawford Street, Sunnydale. The next day

For Xander Harris, the last twelve hours had been his own personal nightmares come to life.

As the boy woke up, he remembered getting hit in the shoulder by the crossbow bolt. There had been pain, but he was used to that. What he wasn't used to though was suddenly finding himself transported into a fantasy world, and living a life that wasn't his...but rather Jason Bourne's.

**FLASH**

Zurich. Marie St. Jacques about to get raped and killed on the Guisan Quai. "You move, you're dead! Get out, you son of a bitch!"

**FLASH**

Lenzburg. Bourne and Marie's first time together. Reading about Carlos with her, and the killing of Ambassador Howard Leland in Marseilles. Responding instinctively to one of her questions, "All contracts will be processed through Paris."

**FLASH**

Argenteuil. The conversation with Jacqueline Lavier, in that restaurant twenty miles outside the City of Lights. Believing he was Cain, the mythical killer for hire. "I am Cain. I am death."

**FLASH**

Paris. Saving d'Anjou from Carlos's gunfire outside the Louvre, and eventually learning the truth about who and what he really was. "Tam Quan's never far away it seems. Where shall we go, Delta? We can't stay here."

**FLASH**

Ramboulliet. Meeting Alexander Conklin, ex-Medusa and CIA legend. He of the crippled foot and an inheritor of Treadstone, after Carlos's orchestrated massacre. His hate-filled face in the pouring rain that night in La Cimetière de Noblesse hissing, "I don't know how you did it, but you did. The only thing left to do and you did it! You got back to New York and blew them all away. You butchered them, you son of a bitch-"

**FLASH**

Parc Monceau. Talking to General André Villiers of the Brevet du Militaire. Discovering his young wife Angelique was Carlos's spy and lover, the only other person in the world the terrorist gave a damn about. Taking the blame for her murder after the old man had strangled her, in order to flush out the enemy. "There are 71 streets in the jungle. You marked Cain. Now I mark you."

**FLASH**

New York. The house with the black front door, Number 140 on East 71st Street, the place where Cain had been conceived. The removal men getting slaughtered. A knife fight with Carlos in the darkness, his Latin American features contorted with fury. "Your execution, Delta. On the day scheduled. For everything you've done."

**FLASH**

"ARRRRGHHHHHHH!" Xander screamed, as he tried to lurch up. No such luck; he was shackled tightly to the wall. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Xander? Is that really you?" a male voice asked.

Harris turned his head, and saw the ensouled vampire studying him carefully. "Angel? Why am I here? And why am I being held in restraints?"

Angel said thoughtfully, "You've been out of it for hours. What do you remember since yesterday?"

"Nothing," Xander replied, shaking his head to try to clear it of the cobwebs. "Just...the most intense flashbacks I've ever had..."

Angel came over and unlocked the manacles. "Sorry about having to do that, but you were a danger to both yourself and the others after you were hit with that poison-"

"Poison?" Xander interrupted. "What are you...oh, wait. I remember getting hit by that arrow, before it all went nuts...it was poisoned?"

The future Champion for the Powers That Be nodded. "The arrow tip was coated with material from a Glarghk'guhl kashmaknik demon; it can inject its victims with a substance that makes them start to have powerful hallucinations. Instant schizophrenia."

"You found a cure, though?" Xander asked, rubbing his wrists and deciding not to comment on the demon's name.

"Almost as soon as we identified the toxin. The demon produces its own antidote, in the same stinger on its arm that it uses to inject its victims. All we had to do is catch one; it's not like the Council was gonna send us what was needed," Angel replied, looking away.

Xander sighed. "The Mayor used this as a distraction from the Ascension for you guys, and it worked."

"Faith brought you over here last night after she knocked you out," the vampire replied, not directly answering the question. "Once you were secured, Giles and Wesley went to work on the arrow the girl brought in. Later, Buffy and Faith went out in search of the Glarghk, then Willow made the cure. The rest of it, you already know."

Harris suddenly had a question. "How did Cordelia take all this?"

Angel snorted. "We had a heckuva time keeping her away from your side, Harris. Some of things you were yelling and ranting about...well, let's just say she wouldn't have ever looked at you quite the same way again if she'd heard them."

Xander simply shrugged. "There's no point trying to keep that sort of stuff secret in my opinion, it's part of who I am now. If you've read the book, or even seen the film, you should know that Bourne didn't exactly have the easiest time of it-"

"But you remember killing people, as if you'd done it yourself. That changes someone," Angel said knowingly. "Then again, of course, I've known that about you for months now. Xander...I was there in Vietnam, during the war. Tam Quan may just be fiction, but I saw things during that time that were just as bad. That's why I sent the others away, they couldn't deal with that sort of thing without the proper life experience. Especially your ex-girlfriend."

"Well, hey. If we're gonna be talking about girls like this, then I have a question. Why'd you break up with Buffy?" the young man asked, as he finally felt his body lose all the kinks from having being chained up for hours.

"None of your business," Angel replied, looking away once more.

"True, but I'm curious. You love her, she loves you. She dumped your ass after Spike came back, but then you guys got back together, so it can't be those issues again. Suddenly you dump her? SOMETHING must have happened. And if you do cough up, I can promise you that Buffy won't hear about it from me."

The vampire stared at his mortal companion, indecision written all over his face. Suddenly he just blurted out, "Joyce came to see me, we talked-"

But Angel was then stunned to witness Xander burst out laughing. "What? You're telling me that the Scourge of Europe caved in the face of a pissed-off mom? Somewhere down there, Satan has GOT to be rolling around on the floor laughing his ass off!"

"Ha, ha," Angel said in annoyance. "Very funny, Harris-"

"Oh, come on! Look at it from my point of view!" Xander said merrily. "You, a vampire with a soul who seeketh redemption. Buffy, with the sacred birthright and duty to destroy the creatures like you. A star-crossed romance, with pain and angst at every turn. And how does it end? Mrs. Summers glares at our hero and says, "Stay away from my daughter, you bloodsucking fiend!" If all this was a romance novel, the publishers woulda rejected it unless the ending was completely rewritten!"

"And again I say, ha-ha," Angel growled. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. Buffy's going to be heading for UCLA if – when we defeat the Mayor, and apparently Willow and Oz are going to be going there with her. She'll get a chance for a normal life-"

"Slayers don't get to have a normal life, Angel. Sad to say, but her expiration date's not long from now, same as Faith. Same as all of them," Xander said quietly.

"I know. But that's all the more reason for Buffy to live in the daylight for as long as she can, to find someone who can give her all of life's pleasures instead of hiding in the darkness with someone like me. Joyce was right about that, if nothing else," the vampire pseudo-sighed.

Xander shrugged. ( _No point in fighting a lost battle, I always say. And what the hell, it's his choice, not mine._ ) "Let's get back to the library. We still got ourselves a demon-wannabe Mayor to kill."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. A while later

While elsewhere Snyder was preparing for the graduation ceremony, and Richard Wilkins was snacking on the demonic spiders within the Box of Gavrock, Angel and Xander came up through the underground entrance into the library. Everyone else was already present; Giles, Wesley, Buffy, Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Faith.

As soon as she saw him Ms. Chase instantly fastened herself to the young man like glue, and warned Harris that if he ever put her through the wringer like that again she was going to kill him herself. Xander just ignored her and asked, "What's our status?"

Wesley and Giles looked at one another, and Rupert started to say, "Well, there still isn't a plan as such-"

"It took a volcano to destroy one of these things the last time," Wes added.

( _Heat. Fire. Explosion,_ ) Xander suddenly thought to himself. Then he had an idea.

After the boy was done explaining himself, everyone looked at him as if he was crazy. "So you all think I'm nuts?" Xander asked, seeing their stares.

"Well, nuts is a, a very technical term," the more senior librarian replied.

"You don't think it can be done?" Faith asked him.

Giles shook his head. "I didn't say that. I might do so later, but not yet."

Cordelia just said it with her own usual brand of tact, "I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan!"

Oz decided to speak up. "We attack the Mayor with hummus."

Everyone looked at him. And Cordy said it best, "I stand corrected."

The musician shrugged. "Just trying to keep things in perspective."

Cordelia waxed more than a little sarcastic, "Thank you. My point however is, crazy or not, it's pretty much the only plan we've got. And since it's Xander's plan, I say we go for it!"

"We still need a key element that's missing for this to work," Giles said hesitantly. "To control the Mayor, neutralize the allies he's sure to bring along and try to keep the students safe-"

"I think I already know how to get the Mayor pissed off enough that he'll do what I want," Xander said slowly as the plan slowly took form in his mind, thanks to those demon poison-induced hallucinations.

"How?" more than one person asked.

"The same way Bourne led Carlos to right where he wanted him. Sending a message Wilkins can't ignore."

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High, Sunnydale. Graduation day

The final hour had come.

For the good guys, the preparations had been a mad frenzy up until less than an hour ago. Talking to the entire senior class, convincing them of what lay ahead and the part they were going to have to play. Emptying the library of its precious books and resources, and filling it up with enough C-4, kerosene and fertilizer to make the Fourth of July celebrations look like a mere firecracker in comparison.

For their part, Wilkins and his forces had not been idle either. The Mayor and Trick had instructed their vamps on what to do, explaining about the eclipse – standard procedure for any Ascension – that would put the bloodsuckers back in the game. And Richard had warned them all that anyone caught feeding during the initial stages would be dealt with...unfavourably.

Xander sat in his gown and cap within the assembled student body, an oddly trusting Cordelia Chase beside him holding his hand. The young man then noticed Willow and Oz join the rest of the students, almost too late. He didn't need to guess what they had been up to; Willow's tangled hair and a faint trace of lipstick on Oz's face gave it all away.

"Looks like those two decided to go out with a bang instead of a whimper," he whispered to the girl beside him.

"Don't say that," the young woman hissed back. "You're gonna jinx us!"

"Sorry..."

Principal Snyder came up to the microphone. "Congratulations to the class of 1999. You all proved more or less adequate. This is a time of celebration, so: sit still and be quiet." Then he snapped out to one of the kids, "Spit out that gum!"

The little troll then continued, "Please welcome our distinguished guest speaker: Richard Wilkins III." Again Snyder couldn't help adding to one of the students, "I saw that gesture. You see me after graduation!"

There was polite applause, then Richard Wilkins came up to the microphone. "Well. What a day this is! Special day. Today is our centennial, the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of Sunnydale, and I know what that means to all you kids: not a darn thing. Because today something much more important happens: today, you all graduate from high school. Today all the pain, all the work, all the excitement is finally over. And what's a hundred years of history compared to that?"

Willow and Buffy, seated next to one another, looked amazed. "Oh my God. He's actually going to do the entire speech!" the blonde whispered to her best friend, an expression of mixed horror and disbelief on her face.

"Man, just ascend already!" the redhead added her opinion.

But like Faith had said not long ago, ALL politicians love the sound of their own voices too much. Wilkins continued on and eventually said, "And so, as we look back on..."

All of a sudden, pain seemed to hit him and the Mayor half-turned to the side groaning. Then he went on, "...on the events that brought us to this day..."

Another wave of pain seemed to hit the ultimate father of Sunnydale. Buffy took her hat off, "Come on."

The Mayor grunted, "We..." He stopped in pain again, as all the students watched tensely. "We must all..."

Xander glanced upwards towards the sun, which was about to undergo its eclipse. "Here we go..." he whispered.

Suddenly, the sky went dark as Wilkins screamed in agony and gave up all pretence about what was going to happen now. "It has begun. My destiny. It's a little sooner than I expected, I had this whole section on civic pride..." He shuffled his cue cards, then dropped them. "But I guess we'll just skip to the big finish!"

And right in front of the gathered crowd of human beings, one of the Old Ones began to take form again on the face of the earth.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale High Quad, Sunnydale. A moment later

Deep inside the Mayor's pure demon mind, strange and inhuman thoughts began to take shape as his body continued to expand and grow.

That part of his essence that had once been the human called Richard Wilkins screamed in horror, as it faded away into oblivion. The consciousness of Olvikan didn't notice, as it was still processing basic instincts and urges; which was, in essence, the need to feed.

The desire for human blood.

It could hear the insects screaming, as the sixty-foot snake ascended; reaching up towards its full glory, its terrible potential. Olvikan then looked down, as it roared; its hunger demanding to be fed.

All the students looked at this...thing in shock. It was the ultimate wake-up call, the monster that had finally come out of the closet and blown away any last fragments of denial. The ultimate definition of all things Sunnydale.

Willow looked to Buffy, who had already shucked off her graduation gown. ( _We can do this..._ ) the apprentice witch chanted to herself. ( _We can DO this! _)

As Ms. Rosenberg and the rest of the senior class disrobed, the minions of Wilkins got a rather nasty surprise; instead of being the unaware sheep they'd expected, these boys and girls were armed to the teeth and looked ready for a fight.

"Shit," Mr. Trick said succinctly. "Now this wasn't part of the plan..."

Principal Snyder, alone on the platform now, stared at the pure demon in shock. "This...this is simply unacceptable!" He ignored the students who were now taking up arms against the monster; shooting flaming arrows at it, as well as utilizing a flame-thrower under the orders of that troublemaker Harris. "This is not orderly. This is not discipline!"

Olvikan stared at the ranting little thing, trying to remember who it was. ( _Snyder? Yes, I remember now. I promised you something, didn't I? What was it..._ )

"You're on my campus, buddy! And when I say I want quiet, I want-"

( _Oh, well, doesn't matter!_ ) the Old One dismissed all that as inconsequential, and swallowed the principal with one gulp.

The battle raged on as Xander shouted orders, "Fall back!" just as another round of flaming arrows were let loose.

In the meantime, Angel, Faith and the others had gotten right into the thick of things. Slayer and vampire, working together in perfect harmony, mowed down Trick's minions as the students fought back against an enemy too used to thinking of their targets as helpless prey and cattle. When suddenly, the brunette Slayer spied the big cheese vamp giving the orders. And remembered what Harris had once mentioned to her about always going for the head of the organization, if the opportunity presented itself.

"Hey, Trick! I got a stake right here with your name on it!"

The Master vampire just smiled as they fought, as did all the others around them, the black man forgetting his promise to settle accounts with Buffy today first and foremost. Suddenly Xander yelled, "Everyone, hand to hand! Let's go! Move! Move!"

The vampires were suddenly astounded, when a virtual sea of angry and armed teenagers came roaring down upon them. Some of the kids were bitten and died (or worse), but for the majority it was Payback Time.

Suddenly, Xander stood before the pure demon with an axe in his hand. "Hey, you! Yeah, Snake Boy, I'm talkin' to you. Just thought you'd like to know, I was the one who got my hands on the Books of Ascension a few months ago! I was the one who shot your flunkey Lyle Gorch, and took your money! I was also the one who planned this little surprise party for you. So you feel like doing anything about that...Dick?"

Something exploded in Olvikan's mind then, a furious hatred that overcame even the bloodlust. Screaming unintelligibly, the pure demon noticed the insignificant but detestable pest run for the innards of the school and, goaded into a frenzy, the huge snake started to give chase. Blasting through the colonnade, uncaring of the damage.

Buffy, in the meanwhile, noticed Trick and Faith engaged in that timeless dance that was the curse of every Slayer. She decided to end it herself though, staking the enemy vampire in the back – just as Faith would done under less pleasant circumstances. "I think it's working!"

Faith glanced around, "Duck!"

Buffy did so, as Ms. LeHane did a running jump over her and took on another bloodsucker. The older Slayer then leaped back into the fray herself, just as Angel punched two vampires, Cordelia staked her own target and the boy called Jonathan Levinson fell down the stairs with his opponent lunging for his neck.

Elsewhere, far away, Xander's lungs felt like they were on fire. He was fit and in shape, but he was no Slayer or vampire and this chase was nearly over for him. Finally, he made it to the library and headed for the underground escape route.

Just then, Olvikan's enormous head arrived into the trap. And upon viewing what was present, the Old One said in an inhuman voice, "Well, gosh! That was sneaky of them-"

Outside, Giles looked at his watch as he saw Buffy wave frantically. It was time. He plunged down on the detonator, and a muffled 'whomph' noise was heard coming from the depths of the school.

That was just an instant before the fireball erupted, turning Sunnydale High into a flaming, charred ruin, sending a mushroom cloud high into the sky and splattering the wrecked walls with chunks of blackened and burnt Mayor meat.

Everyone stopped to look at the explosion, bad guy and good guy alike. Cordelia had jumped into Jonathan's arms at that moment, startled, as not far away the Chosen Two looked upon their handiwork in awe.

Along with Angel, that duo then just started up the fight again, getting in a few more stakings. But it was effectively over; with both Trick and the Mayor gone, the evil command infrastructure was also gone, and it was basically every demon for himself as the undead wisely decided to flee the scene.

**

* * *

**

Outside the remains of Sunnydale High. Just after sunset

The machinery had taken over; the police, fire crews and ambulance personnel were streaming about, trying to make some sense out of the messy madhouse and putting out the remains of the fire that had erupted as a result of an unexpected 'gas leak'.

Buffy just glanced around, looking for Angel. She saw her beloved with a burn mark on his face and asked, "What happened?"

"Holy water that one of your classmates brought along. I'll be fine, it's just a little collateral damage," he explained.

"So this is it," the blonde Slayer tried to keep her voice steady. "We're done."

"Yeah. We're done," the vampire said, his double-meaning clear.

All of a sudden, a grimy and exhausted Xander Harris joined them. "Man. I feel like I could sleep for a week-"

"Xander! You made it!" Buffy exclaimed, happy that the guy had survived.

"Yeah, guess so-" was all that Harris managed to get out before a female brunette missile launched itself into his arms. "You're still alive! You're still alive!"

"Cordelia-" was all that Xander was able to get out, before the former cheerleader started kissing the hell out of him.

At this point the rest of the Scooby Gang joined them, apart from Wesley who was in one of the ambulances – Willow, Oz, Faith and Giles. The ex-Watcher silently handed Buffy her diploma, with a quick smile to the daughter of his heart, and then they all watched as the smoke and heat began to dissipate away.

Graduation was officially over. The Mayor was gone, and it looked like things were now finally going to be all right.

**

* * *

**

Sunnydale Airport, Sunnydale. A few days later

Xander looked out of the plane window, as his flight took off. He was in the first class section, which was less than half-full. "Goodbye, Sunnydale..."

He had just begun the first leg of a long journey, in becoming who he truly was. He had said goodbye to all of his friends, and Xander was now looking forward to the future.

The departure had been more than a little bittersweet, after the young man had told everyone about his intentions to leave. Apart from his ex and Faith, the announcement had taken all of the white hats completely by surprise; but at least they had thrown him a farewell party and wished him well, hoping that Xander would come back home one day after he'd found himself again.

Suddenly, someone sat down in the seat next to him after the seatbelt sign had been switched off. "You're in my seat. But you may as well stay there for now-"

Harris whirled his head around in shock. "CORDELIA? What the hell are you doing here?"

"What's it look like, dorkhead? Look, just so you understand, I kept a low profile in coach till our plane was in the air, in case you tried anything stupid. On account of I'm coming with you," Ms. Chase said in definite annoyance.

"You're WHAT?" Xander exclaimed, ignoring the looks from their fellow passengers. "Cordy-"

"Xander, please listen to me. I've thought about this. A lot. And yeah, I could do that whole Hollywood actress and get rich quick thing...but one thing I've learned is that being famous and rich means jack if you're not with the ones you love. And that's why you're NOT just leaving me behind that way."

Harris sighed impatiently. "You don't understand-"

"-what I'm letting myself in for? I think I do. Don't you get it? When I thought you might have been killed during that explosion, it all became real clear to me," Cordelia said emphatically. "Besides, you really think you can make your own memories and identity just by going to the same places that guy did? You need me around, to make sure the new memories there are real. So deal with it, you're stuck with my ass."

He scowled at her. "You can be the most ANNOYING-"

"I'm not a child, so don't try to treat me like one! I'm older than you are," the young woman scowled right back. "Remember? You are not that thirty-something amnesiac out of a cheap spy thriller novel. You're Xander Harris. And you're mine!"

Xander's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Cordy, you're broke. How the heck did you even get on this plane?"

"It was a group effort, actually..."

To his astonishment, Harris then heard how she'd talked to the entire Scooby Gang about it, and both Giles and Wesley had decided to pay for her fare. Willow had used her knowledge of computers to make sure that her plane seat was next to his, the entire way. Angel had given her some seed money to survive on. Oz had driven her to the airport, and Buffy had given her the names of some of Joyce's art gallery contacts in Europe in the event of an emergency.

"So what did Faith give you?" And once Xander saw the box of condoms the brunette girl took out of her purse he groaned, "I HAD to ask..."

"Come on! This is our movie moment," Cordelia said urgently.

"Movie moment?"

"Yeah...when the smart one, that's me, decides she doesn't want to end up forever regretting how she never went after the guy, namely you, that she intends to spend the rest of her life with," Cordy said triumphantly.

Harris sighed, "Chick flicks..." as his female companion then started talking about her future movie star ambitions. Still, Xander supposed Cordelia was right about one thing; with her in his life, the future promised to be a lot more interesting than it otherwise would have been.

The End


End file.
